You're It
by Speed Keed
Summary: One tag for each episode of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog." Lots of brotherly fluff between Sonic and Tails, some dysfunction junction in the dysfunctional family of Robotnik and his robots, and plenty of gen in between.
1. The SSSSS Squad

**Disclaimer: **I super specially have no rights to search for or smash anything to do with this franchise.

**Authors' Note: **A tag to each episode of _The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog_, of varying themes, genres, characters, and types. Some are better than others, some are longer than others, and it all really just depends on what about each individual episode inspired me.

Mostly these are stored here so I have a place to store them, but if you read, go ahead and let me know what you think.

* * *

**Tag 1 - The Super Special Sonic Search & Smash Squad  
Title: One Way or Another**

Really, Sonic wasn't lying when he said that he, Tails, Scratch, and Grounder had been through too much together to all let it end so easily.

Because as much as they were enemies . . .

. . . it was almost like they were playing a game.

It was hedgehog and robot instead of cat and mouse, but all the same, they were playing it. Scratch and Grounder were created for the sole purpose of catching him, weren't they? And it may as well have been that it was _his _sole purpose to avoid them, to give them the slip, and trick them at every turn. They would never stop chasing him, and he would never stop making them look ridiculous. No matter what traps they created, no matter what they tried, he would always be ten steps ahead of them, taunting them to keep trying again, and again, and again.

In a weird way, it was almost like they were friends, even though they really weren't. In any case, Sonic knew they could never let their chase end. If they did, they'd be out of jobs, and besides:

He refused to believe they didn't find it at least a fraction as fun as he did.


	2. Subterranean Sonic

**Tag 2 - Subterranean Sonic****  
Title: No Place for a Kid**

"Marble Zone was cool, wasn't it, Sonic?"

"Cool? Little bro, that place was a death trap! Mobius is way past cool, but that is one place we are not going back to."

"But it had all those tunnels—"

"Filled with spikes."

"—and it was all underground—"

"Filled with lava."

"—and it had all those jewels!"

"Protected by things likely to skewer ya."

"But Sonic, I thought you liked danger."

"I do, little bro – believe me, I do. But that's mostly when I'm alone." Sonic reached out and ruffled the fur on the top of Tails' head. "You can do me a favor by staying out of places like that until you're a little older, got it?"

Tails looked a bit disappointed, but nodded anyway. "You got it, Sonic."

"Atta boy, Tails."


	3. Lovesick Sonic

**Tag 3 - Lovesick Sonic****  
Title: Forget Me Not**

"All right, kiddo, time for lunch!"

"No thanks, I'm not hungry."

"You're _not hungry_?" Sonic raised his eyebrows, frowning when Tails shook his head 'no.' "What's up, keed? You're _always _hungry."

"Nothing's up, I'm just not hungry." Seated on the edge of the campsite, Tails kicked a stray rock, and Sonic walked over to sit down next to him, lightly nudging Tails with his shoulder.

"All right, spit it out. Whatever you're munchin' on now is messin' with your appetite. And don't give me any of that "I'm not hungry" business; even if you _did _have an appetite, you should never wear anything _that _gloomy on your face."

"Nothing's wrong! It's just . . ." Tails looked away, and Sonic started tapping his foot.

"Just? C'mon, Tails, I'm waaaaaaaitiiiiiiiing . . ."

"It's just—you won't ever fall in love for _real_, will you, Sonic?" Tails turned to give Sonic a pair of imploring eyes, and Sonic felt himself taken aback.

"Say what?"

"Like with Breezie! That won't happen again, will it?" Tails was giving Sonic the biggest pair of puppy-dog eyes Sonic had ever seen, and Sonic shook his head, deciding to head this off before he promised Tails fifty new pets and six truckloads worth of candy.

"Slow down there, little guy. Why don't you back up and let me follow ya? What do you mean, like with Breezie?"

"You know what I mean! You're not ever gonna fall in love for real, will you? I know that Breezie was a robot, and she won't be back again, but there'll never be any more girls like her, right? You won't ever fall in love again, right?"

"I . . ." Jeez, how was he supposed to answer this one? "Well, I can't say for sure, little bro, but love's not a _bad_ thing—"

"Yes, it is." Tails turned away, once again kicking at the dirt with a desolate expression on his face. "It'll be the worst thing ever if it happens again."

"Aw, c'mon, Tails!" Sonic gave Tails a pat on the shoulder, but that seemed to do nothing to lift Tails' despairing mood. "Not all girls are robots!"

"I know, and that's the bad part!" Surprise number two of the day. "The next girl might be real, and then you'll be in love for sure!"

And once again, he wasn't following. "Yeah, but Tails, like I said, love's not _bad_—_"_

"Yes, it is!" Tails insisted, and he turned to face Sonic once again. "If you fall in love with someone else, then you'll forget about me for sure! You won't have time for me anymore, and . . ." Tails trailed off, and then turned his back to Sonic, heaving a sigh. "Forget it. I shouldn't have said anything."

But truth be told, Tails had said enough. Reaching out to put a firm hand on Tails' shoulder, Sonic said, "Tails, I don't care what girl comes along. No one could make me forget about you."

"Breezie did," Tails muttered bitterly. "And don't say she didn't, because the whole time she was around, you were running yourself ragged to try and make her happy. She could make you do anything she wanted, and you just went ahead and did it. And when I tried to get your attention to tell you she was on Robotnik's side, you didn't even listen to me."

"W-Well—"

"And you didn't even look at me before that, either. She threw me in the river before I found you, you know. And if I hadn't found you before you got back, you wouldn't have even known!"

"But—"

"And I tried to get you away from her way before that, too, but you only had eyes for her! And if you fall in love with someone else, it'll happen all over again!" Tails pulled his shoulder free of Sonic's grasp. "I—I don't want it to happen all over again! But—But if she makes you happy, then I should—I should just go, but—but I don't want—"

"Tails, listen to me." Instead of trying to get Tails to turn back and face him, Sonic hopped over so that he was seated in front of Tails, instead. "I'm sorry, little bro. I shouldn't have ignored you, no matter _how _pretty Breezie was, and I can promise you that won't happen again."

"Really?" Tails asked, though he sounded doubtful as he lifted watery eyes up to Sonic. Sonic nodded.

"I Sonic Swear it, and you know I don't break Sonic Swears." Reaching out, Sonic extended one pinky toward Tails, who – after a brief hesitation – reached up to lock his pinky with Sonic's. Tails offered a shaky smile.

"I'll hold you to that, Sonic."

"You better, squirt. Now, c'mon. There's a couple o' chili dogs over there with your name on 'em." This time, Tails did get up to head over to their makeshift table, and although he joined him, Sonic felt that his own appetite had waned with the conversation.

Had he really screwed up that badly? Tails was barely five, and as far as Sonic knew, the kid didn't have anyone but Sonic in his life. Sonic had to be there for him . . . and he couldn't do that if he was off chasing girls.

Come what may, this would be one Sonic Swear that he would definitely keep.


	4. Slooooooow Going

**Tag 4 – Sloooooow Going  
Title: Writing Lessons**

"After you wash your hands, git over here."

"Okay!" Tails was by Sonic's side in a flash, hands still dripping a little from their quick dip in the stream. "What is it, Sonic?"

"This is a pencil." Sonic handed the writing instrument over to Tails, who gave him a bemused look. "And this is a piece of paper."

"Yeah, I know _that_," Tails said, rolling his eyes with a laugh. Sonic grinned. "I meant, what're we doing?"

"I am going to teach you how to write. You know how to read, right?"

"Of course I do, you taught me!"

"Of course I did! Well, writing's a lot like that." Sonic pulled an easy enough book up onto the table – a book that he knew was below Tails' reading level – and flipped it open to a random page. "All right, see this? Read this to me."

"'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog,'" Tails recited, and then grinned. "It could almost be about me."

"Almost could, little bro. Okay, so, you see the words that make up that sentence? And the letters that make up the words? You just have to scramble up those letters to make new words to make new sentences. That's writing! Easy enough, right?"

"Sure, Sonic," Tails agreed, and Sonic felt a swell of pride. "But how do I do it? I don't know where to start."

"Well . . . Uh . . . Maybe you could start by just copying that sentence down, rather than trying to make your own." Both Sonic and Tails looked back to the book before Tails looked back up at Sonic.

"Okay. How? I can see the letters, but I'm not sure how to copy 'em."

"Well, you just—hmmm." Sonic frowned. Teaching Tails how to write was going to be a lot more difficult than he originally anticipated.


	5. High Stakes Sonic

**Tag 5 - High Stakes Sonic****  
Title: Price**

That night, Sonic was the one without much appetite.

He wasn't stupid, and it did bother him, no matter how much he tried to hide it for Tails' sake. It wasn't just his pride that he was sacrificing when he was throwing the race, though he was definitely throwing that away, too. No, he was sacrificing each and every Mobian that had laid down a pretty penny on a bet that he would win. He knew that the entire time – he went into the race knowing that if he lost, they would be enslaved. And yet . . . and yet, he threw the race anyway.

And he'd do it again, if doing that would save Tails.

And that thought made him feel a bit sick.

Yet no matter how guilty it made him feel, Sonic knew his choice would never change – and _that _was what truly got him. He knew that if he told Tails, Tails would want him to save the Mobians, for sure. What was one life in comparison to hundreds? And yet, Sonic _couldn't _sacrifice Tails. Tails was important to him, and while the Mobians were important too, they just . . . they weren't _as _important to him as Tails was. They were innocent citizens, yes, but Tails was his little brother. There was no way he could ever let anything happen to the little guy.

But while he knew that was the truth, no amount of justification would make him feel better about it. The only consolation was that he'd been able to save the Mobians as well as Tails this time. But if there was a next time . . . Sonic didn't know what would happen next time. And truth be told, that scared him.


	6. Sonic Breakout

**Tag 6 - Sonic Breakout****  
Title: Height**

"Man, this is ridiculous!"

"What's ridiculous, Sonic?"

Sonic scowled, throwing the small knife he'd used to make a notch in the tree down at the ground. "I could've sworn that I was taller than this! Or at least that I would've grown by now . . . It's been a whole day since I measured myself last!"

"Well, maybe you don't grow so much from day to day." Tails bent down to pick up the knife, and Sonic quickly swiped it from Tails' hand before the young fox could accidentally cut himself with it.

"Maybe, but still. I know I'm taller than I looked on that poster. I have to be."

"Why does it matter so much? Even if you're not so tall, you're still the fastest person on Mobius."

"Yeah, but—"

"And," Tails went on, holding up one finger to get Sonic to pause, "you're still taller than me."

_That _got Sonic to grin, and – after tossing the knife to the side once again – he reached out to throw an arm around Tails' neck, pulling the fox into a noogie attack. "Yeah, but I'll _always _be taller than _you_, squirt."

"Nu-uh, I'll grow taller than you someday, Sonic!" Tails cried, starting to laugh. "Now c'mon, Sonic, cut it out!"

"Not on your life, li'l bro!"

"_Sonic_!"


	7. Trail of the Missing Tails

**Tag 7 - Trail of the Missing Tails****  
Title: For Real**

"Hey, Tails, there's something I've been meanin' to ask ya."

"What?" Tails, who'd been flying just a little ahead of Sonic, turned and landed as the hedgehog fixed him with a serious stare.

"You didn't run away for real back there, did ya?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"When I woke up, it was to find you gone." Sonic crossed his arms and tapped his foot, but Tails realized that it wasn't out of impatience this time – it was out of agitation. "I know that Warpnik freak kidnapped you, but that wasn't after you ran away, was it?"

"What? Of course not! I didn't run away!" Sonic, however, was already talking over him, and appeared not to even hear him.

"'Cause if you did, that would be really st—it wouldn't be cool at all, li'l bro. I know we had a disagreement, and I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings—I didn't mean to, but what I said still stands. You've gotta listen to me, because I just wanna keep you safe. And that means not running away, okay?"

"Sonic, I didn't run away!" Tails exclaimed, and Sonic seemed to finally take heed of what he was saying. "I noticed someone a little ways away from camp, and so I went to investigate. When I did, that Warpnik guy grabbed me. But I didn't run away, honest!"

Sonic let out what sounded like a sigh of relief, and smiled. "Good. Well—just don't ever do it, okay, keed? I just about went outta my mind lookin' for ya."

Tails returned Sonic's smile. "I won't, I promise. Even if I did run away, where would I go, anyway?"

Sonic's smile, to Tails' surprise, faded. "Well, I don't wanna keep you here because you've got nowhere else to go. If you want to find somewhere else to live, I—"

"Sonic!" Tails waved one hand to get Sonic's attention before rolling his eyes. "There's nowhere else I wanna go – I wanna be right here, with you. You're my best friend. There's nowhere else I'd wanna be. That's all I meant."

Sonic's grin returned, and he reached out to ruffle the fur atop Tails' head. "Glad to hear it. Now, enough with the mush! I think that we need to grab some dinner, on the double!" Sonic grabbed Tails' wrist before taking off, starting slow, but quickly gathering speed. "Up, over, and _gone_!"


	8. Close Encounter of the Sonic Kind

**Tag 8 - Close Encounter of the Sonic Kind****  
Title: Gadgets**

"That spaceship was cool, wasn't it, Sonic?"

"Yeah, it was pretty way past. I'm just glad they knew how to fix it, 'cause I had no idea."

"I bet I could've if I tried." Tails paused when Sonic gave him an odd look, and then asked, "What?"

"You're mondo smart for a squirt, but do you really think you could've fixed their spaceship?" Tails nodded, and Sonic laughed. "Get outta here!"

"I bet I could've! Maybe not fast enough for the prince to make his coronation, but I so could've fixed it if I tried!" Tails took to the air, hovering around so that he was floating in Sonic's face. "We've been running into Scratch and Grounder long enough that I've started to get the hang of looking at mechanical stuff, and I've even messed around with a few broken pieces of theirs that we've found now and then. It's not too hard – it's really easy if you just take the time to look at it. I bet I could've fixed their ship."

"We'll see," Sonic said, though he truthfully didn't think the aliens would be back any time soon. "Tell you what. Next time something mechanical comes our way, I'll let you take a whack at it."

"Really, Sonic? You really mean it?" So much excitement was lighting up the kid's face that there was no way Sonic could say no now, even if he wanted to. He laughed.

"You got it, li'l bro! Next time we get some mechanical monster, it's all yours!"

"Wow, thank you, Sonic! I won't let you down, I promise!" In his excitement, Tails spun around and did a few quick loops in the air, cheering about his success. Sonic couldn't help but laugh.

He might as well have just said that Tails' birthday had just come early.


	9. Momma Robotnik's Birthday

**Tag 9 - Momma Robotnik's Birthday****  
Title: Writing Lessons – Results**

"You know somethin', Tails? I forgot to tell you . . ."

"What?"

Tails flew over to land beside Sonic, who'd pulled Tails' crumpled note out of his sneaker. Before Sonic had a chance to say anything, Tails' eyes widened, and he made a grab for the note (though missed, because as always, Sonic was quicker).

"Isn't that my note? You kept it?"

"Of course I did. You left it for me, didn't you?" Tails lowered his ears back, whether out of embarrassment or chagrin, and he nodded. "Besides, there's something I wanted to say regarding it."

"That I shouldn't have written it and left? I know. I'm sorry, Sonic." Chagrin it was, then. Sonic reached out, patting Tails on the back.

"Well, that, but you already knew that. Don't sweat it, squirt. It's over, you're safe, and that's all that matters. That's not what I wanted to say, anyway." Tails' ears perked back up, and he tilted his head curiously.

"It's not?"

"Nope. Look here." Sonic smoothed out the note, and held it out for Tails to see. "You know what I noticed about this note, after the fact that you were in danger?"

"What?" Tails' eyes were on the note, trying to figure out what he did wrong, and so he didn't see Sonic's grin.

"All the words were spelled correctly!" Sonic reached out, ruffling the fur atop Tails' head. "Good job, keed! I'm so proud of you!"

"Heheh, really?" Tails took the note, now looking at it with a huge smile. "I had trouble with 'pandemonium.' I was sure I got that one wrong."

"Nope, you nailed it! Awesome job, li'l bro. To celebrate, I'm gonna get you all the ice cream you can eat tonight, on me!"

"Yeah, all right!" Tails punched the air with his fist before jumping into it, his spinning tails keeping him airborne. "I'm gonna write notes more often." Sonic did his best to give Tails a stern look, though it was set over his grin.

"Just make sure not to run into any more traps, okay?"

"Don't worry, I won't. Now let's get to the ice cream shop! Race ya there!" Tails took off, and though Sonic knew he should let Tails win _just this once_, he couldn't quite bring himself to do that.

"That's one race you're not gonna win, 'cause I've got a need for speed, keed! Up, over, and _there_!"


	10. Big Daddy

**Tag 10 – Big Daddy**  
**Title: What Matters**

"Hey, Sonic?"

"What's up, keed?"

"You never did tell me . . . What happened to your family?"

"Huh?" The question brought Sonic up short, and though Tails flew around to hover in front of Sonic's face, he didn't land.

"Well, Boomboom was looking for his dad, right? And we ended up finding him."

"Yeah . . ."

"Well, we know that I got lost from my parents, but what about yours? They were never around when I met you, and you never told me what happened to 'em, either. So, what happened?"

Sonic could tell that Tails didn't mean any harm by his question. He was genuinely, innocently curious. All the same, it wasn't a subject that Sonic liked to talk _or _think about. Shrugging, he moved to walk around Tails, the movement as casual as everything else he did.

"Same thing that happened to yours, I suppose."

"Huh? But we don't know what happened to mine." Tails followed after, and Sonic did his best to shoot the fox an easy grin.

"Exactly."

"So, you got lost from your family, too?" That wasn't exactly the truth, but it was the easiest answer, so Sonic nodded. Tails' countenance fell. "Oh . . . I'm sorry, Sonic."

"What're you sorry about? It's not like it matters. I barely remember them, anyway. They're not important, now."

"They're not?" Tails sounded dubious, so Sonic made his grin even bigger and shook his head.

"Nope, 'cause now I've got you!" Reaching up, he yanked Tails out of the air, and spun him around to set him on his feet. "As far as I'm concerned, you're more than enough to worry about."

"Gee, thanks." Despite his tone being a bit sarcastic, Tails grinned. "Well, the same goes for you. I don't even remember what my parents looked like. The only one I remember is you."

"Looks like we're set then, li'l bro." Sonic gave Tails a light pat on the shoulder, and they started off again, this time in silence. But this time, instead of letting his mind wander to where they were going to get their next meal, Sonic just allowed himself a little grin.

It used to be that thinking of his family made him feel a bit low, but now . . .

. . . well, he had Tails. And as far as he was concerned, Tails was the only family he needed.


	11. Sonic's Song

**Tag 11 - Sonic's Song****  
Title: Next Big Hit**

"Sonic! Sonic, listen!" Tails flew up, setting a radio down by their campsite and cranking up the volume. "There's a new song on the radio about you!"

"Really?" Sonic hopped down to sit by the radio as the announcer started speaking again, Tails' head bouncing along to the beat that was already starting up.

"_And now, to rival Catty Carlyle's "Sonic's Song," here's the newest hit from The Noisy Neighbors, 'Fastest Thing Alive'!"_

"I like the sound of it already," Sonic said, grinning. Instead of responding, Tails began singing along with the lyrics.

"'Blue streak speeds by – Sonic the Hedgehog! Too fast for the naked eye – Sonic the Hedgehog! Sonic – he can really move! Sonic – he's got an attitude! Sonic – he's the fastest thing alive!'"

Catty's song was something, but Sonic had to admit that this one had style – especially as his surrogate little brother began jamming along to an air guitar to fill in the gap between lyrics.

"'Look out when he storms through – Sonic the Hedgehog! Don't doubt what he can do – Sonic the Hedgehog! Sonic – he can really move! Sonic – he's got an attitude! Sonic – he's the fastest thing alive! He's the fastest thing alive! He's the fastest thing aliiiiiiive!'" Tails rounded off the song with an air guitar flourish that left him flat on his back, and Sonic cupped his hands around his mouth to impersonate the sounds from a cheering crowd.

"And that was Rockstar Tails, ladies and gentlemen! The crowd out here is going wild!" Tails grinned as Sonic mimicked the radio broadcaster's voice, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

"Wasn't that song cool, Sonic?"

"Way past, li'l bro. I can't wait to see what Robuttnik thinks of this one. How about we see if we can secure a tape of it to mail him a copy?" Tails' eyes lit up.

"Ooh, can we, can we? If not, I could sing it to 'im. I have all the words memorized."

"And you play one mean air guitar, too. All right, keed, it's time to see what we can do. Let's juice!"

* * *

The song is the theme song to _Sonic SatAM._


	12. Birth of a Salesman

**Tag 12 - Birth of a Salesman****  
Title: One True Blue**

Tails loved his big brother.

That was no secret. What _was _a secret was that he nearly panicked when Wes Weasley's machine made several copies of his hero.

It wasn't that multiple Sonics were too much for him to handle – no, not at all! It was just that, well, there was only _one _Sonic to him. What the machine did was a mistake, but it made Tails wonder if there really was someone out there who could match his big bro when it came to sheer amounts of awesome. It was unthinkable, but Sonic said that sayings existed for a reason, and there always _was _that old saying about there always being someone better . . .

But that was impossible! There was no one that was faster than Sonic. And even if there _was_, they would be a _good _person, right? They wouldn't try to help Robotnik, right? Right?

To be honest, that thought was a little scary.

To make up for it, Tails decided that _he _would be the one to surpass Sonic. It wouldn't happen any time soon, no doubt, but if anyone was going to be faster than Sonic, it was him. That way, he could be absolutely sure that speeds faster than Sonic's super would never be used against them. Robotnik would never, ever win. Never.

Until then, he could rest content that there was only one true blue hero, one awesome big brother – one Sonic.


	13. Best Hedgehog

**Tag 13 - Best Hedgehog****  
Title: Crazy**

Thirty years had finally done it. Lucas had finally lost it.

Why else would he suddenly be out of his cage, having his hair washed and cut by a two-tailed fox, about to be reunited with his one true love?

He was crazy, that was why. None of this was happening. It was all a hallucination created by his mind in order to offer him some imaginary way out of his horrible situation.

The sound of scissors snipping reached his hair, and he fought the urge to wince in case the scissors were closer than they sounded. "Hey, uh, Tails?" he asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice. "How old did you say you were, again?"

"Four and a half," Tails answered cheerfully, continuing to cut Lucas' hair. Lucas gulped. "But don't worry, Sonic says I'm precocious and really smart for my age."

"Ri-Right." Well, if Sonic said so, then Lucas guessed it was all right . . . but was it really? Tails was a two-tailed fox. That Lucas could accept, he guessed. But at _four and a half years old _. . .

This was insane. It was absolutely insane, and so was Lucas. Lucinda deserved someone better than an insane former prisoner.

Tails cut the hair near Lucas' ear, and this time Lucas did wince. At the same time, it was currently too dangerous to move. Any movement would result in Tails messing up with those scissors, and that could mean Lucas losing more than hair . . . Lucas closed his eyes.

If this wasn't some half-baked hallucination, the most he could do was pray it went well.


	14. The Robotnik Express

**Tag 14 - The Robotnik Express****  
Title: Bad Influence**

Stomping the ground with extra force as he made his way back to Robotnik's lab, Scratch burst out, "Don't you remember when that little brat was a sweet, good-natured fox?"

"Not really," Grounder answered, rolling along beside his "older brother" as per usual. "He was always tagging along with Sonic as long as I can remember."

"Yeah, but he didn't used to have such a smart mouth. Or a smart head, for that matter." Scratch reached up, readjusting his own head upon his neck. "Jeez, who would've thought he could trick us like that? Aren't _we _usually the ones that grab _him_?"

"Hmm . . . Now that you say it, yeah! What's the big idea?" Grounder paused and wheeled around, prepared to go back. "Why, I oughta go find him and give him a piece of my mind!"

"Oh, not now, Grounder!" Scratch reached out, grabbing Grounder by the antennae and dragging him along. "Doing that will just tick off the hedgehog, and I've already had enough of Sonic for today, thanks!"

"Oooh, don't let Dr. Robotnik hear you say that! He'll tear you up and throw you in the scrap heap for being afraid of Sonic!"

"I'm not _afraid _of him, and you're one to talk! Your head's still not on straight!" Scratch paused and fixed Grounder's head, causing the other robot to laugh.

"Oh, yeah. You were right."

"Of course I was. I always am." Scratch started on their path again, a little laugh building his metallic throat. "And because I'm always right, believe me when I say that little two-tailed freak hasn't seen the last of us. We might not get him today, but we'll get him next time for sure. HaHA-ha-HAAAA!"


	15. Too Tall Tails

**Tag Fifteen - Too Tall Tails****  
Title: Growth Spurts**

"Hey, Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't think I'm really gonna grow bigger, do you?"

"What? Of course I do." Sonic looked over at Tails, one eyebrow raised in a _'what are you talking about' _look. "You're just a kid, and a shrimpy one at that. Of course you'll grow bigger."

Tails frowned, his eyebrows arched in a _'I'm really starting to panic and I kind of feel like crying' _look. "But I don't wanna grow bigger! If I do, I'll just never stop eating, and then everyone will think I'm a monster, and—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Time out, li'l bro." Sonic had been intending to take a nap, but when Tails gave him the _'I'm really starting to panic and I kind of feel like crying' _look, then the only thing he could do was try and comfort him with a _'don't be ridiculous, nothing bad will happen to you so long as I'm around' _look. "I didn't mean you'll grow _that _much. _That _was just a freak accident caused by one of ol' Robuttnik's plans. You don't have to worry about that."

"But . . ." Tails looked away, wearing a classic _'but I _am _really worried' _look. "But what if I grow even bigger than _you_?"

"That's doubtful. You're way too much of a squirt, squirt." Sonic ruffled the fur atop Tails' head, switching tracks to his _'I can tease you because I'm your awesome big brother, but believe me when I say no one else is allowed_' look. "But if you did grow up to be super tall, that'd just be one thing that you'd still have on me. Don't worry, though. I'll always be faster."

"Maybe you won't be," Tails said, his expression finally shifting to _'yeah, yeah, I let you tease me because you're my big brother, but as a little brother I can make you stop with puppy-dog eyes at any time.' _"If I have longer legs, I might be faster."

"Chyeah, right!" _'Yeah, yeah, don't remind me. _"I'll always be faster, or my name's not Sonic."

"Then you might have to change your name soon." _'Haha, okay, okay, but only 'cause you're you.' _"C'mon, I hear the ice cream shop in the _next _town has over _sixty _flavors!" Tails turned, taking off without even saying go, and Sonic laughed, deciding to give him a ten second head start.

Not that it would help much.

"Sixty flavors, huh? Count me in. Check your speed, keed, 'cause I'm about to leave you in my dust!"


	16. Tails' New Home

**Tag 16 - Tails' New Home****  
Title: Selfish**

The matter of where Tails would live was settled. As far as Sonic was concerned, the matter of where he would live would never be brought up ever again. He was staying with Sonic, and that was that.

But still . . . Sonic worried.

As long as he was in Sonic's life, Tails had a gigantic target plastered right on his back. Of course, that was true whether he was actually with Sonic or not. By this point, Robotnik knew that Sonic cared about Tails enough to actively try and kidnap Tails to use for ransom. He'd done it countless times before, and there was no doubt that he would do it countless times in the future. The time before last, Tails had actually gotten hurt. There wasn't much that could scare Sonic, but that did. If it happened again . . .

Well, Sonic just wouldn't let it happen again.

But it wasn't that easy, was it?

He'd thought it was. He'd always protected Tails _before_. It was just that last time, he slipped up. He hadn't expected Tails to fall out of the tree . . . and then, he hadn't expected Scratch and Grounder to impersonate Tails' parents, either. But it made sense, didn't it? If Tails was in danger, Sonic would come running, and he would do anything he had to in order to get Tails out of danger again. Robotnik knew it, and so did Scratch and Grounder. There was a good chance that everybody on Mobius knew it. Tails was Sonic's one weakness. If there was one surefire way to stop him, it wasn't by killing his speed, it was by trying to kill the fox.

Though, Sonic liked to think that even Robotnik wasn't _that _stupid. He'd kidnap Tails, but he'd never purposely harm one hair on the fox's head. At least, for his sake, Sonic hoped he wouldn't.

But then, there was always the chance that accidents would happen. Accidents already _had _happened, and not just to Tails. There was a reason Sonic didn't have a home, or a family, and there was a reason that he made it his personal mission to be a thorn in Robotnik's robust side. If it wasn't for his gifted speed and the fact that he went out for a run instead of doing his chores that day, he likely wouldn't have made it out of the "accident" that wiped out his parents and visiting Uncle Chuck.

But he had. He had, and later on – while living a carefree life free of any emotional attachments to make him think about the risks he was taking – he found Tails. At first, he hadn't wanted to take the kid along. Kids were responsibilities and liabilities. If he had a kid with him, he had to think about the risks he was taking. If he had a kid with him, he had to _raise _the kid. So at first he tried to pretend like he barely noticed the twin-tailed fox that was tagging along, and he told himself that Tails would no doubt wander off on his own. Tails wouldn't stay – he was just a kid, and kids had short attention spans. Tails wasn't his responsibility.

Somewhere along the way – and Sonic couldn't say when – that changed. Tails stuck around, and he grew. Sonic fed him, helped cure him when he was sick, taught him how to read and write. Somehow, Tails became his best friend, and Sonic became attached. He didn't have parents or an uncle anymore, but he _did _have Tails – an orphan who was just a little out of the ordinary, just like him. Sonic had the feeling that Tails' parents met a similar fate to his own.

So, Tails didn't have anywhere else to go, and even if he did, it didn't matter. Robotnik would go after him anyway. There wasn't anyone else on Mobius that could protect him the way Sonic could, and it was easiest to protect him if Sonic kept him close. Accidents were less likely to happen that way. Really, Sonic was making the best decision here.

. . . and he also knew that all of those "reasons" were really just empty justifications.

The truth was, Sonic wasn't keeping Tails close just because it was safest, just like he didn't take Tails along out of a sense of responsibility or duty, especially since he hadn't even _wanted _that responsibility in the first place. The truth was, he agreed to take Tails along before because – as much as he was loathe to admit it – he had been lonely, and some company was better than no company. And now, he kept Tails with him because he didn't just want _some _company, he wanted _Tails' _company. Tails was his best friend, yes, but he was more than just that – he was Sonic's family. His surrogate little brother. The reason why he'd come running if anything happened was because he didn't want to lose another family member. Way back when, he'd hesitated to take Tails along because he didn't want to form another attachment he could lose. Now that he _had _formed that attachment, he'd do just about anything to keep it. Before, that meant finding Tails a new family so that Tails could be safe, even if he'd wanted to punch the two adult foxes even before learning that they were just robots in disguise. But if Tails was going to be in danger there _anyway_ . . .

It was selfish of him. Sonic knew he was being selfish. If there was even the slightest chance that Tails would be safer elsewhere, then Sonic should do his best to find Tails that safe new home. But . . . Sonic had already lost his parents, his uncle, and his home. He dedicated his entire life to bringing down Robotnik and protecting other Mobians from facing the same pain he did, and he asked for literally nothing in return, except maybe a hot meal every now and then. If he could be selfish just this once, about this one little thing . . . then damn it, he was going to, and anyone who tried to tell him otherwise was going to end up with a mouthful of blue spikes.


	17. Over The Hill Hero

**Tag 17 - Over The Hill Hero****  
Title: Wheelchair Races**

"Captain Rescue wasn't so bad after all, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess not." Sonic laced his fingers behind his head, and Tails grinned, flying backwards so that he could face Sonic.

"Why are you so reluctant to admit that he helped, Sonic? It's not like he's _that _old."

"He's old enough, and I never said he didn't help. I just hope he doesn't try to get in the way again. Once is enough, trust me."

"He's not _that _old," Tails repeated, and then pulled out what he'd been dying to say. "Besides, you'll be his age someday."

"What? No way! That's _years_ away, keed." Sonic waved Tails off, but Tails kept grinning.

"Maybe, but you're the fastest thing alive, remember? You'll get there someday. But don't worry!" Tails flashed a thumbs-up. "You're about ten years older than me, so I'll still be really young when you're really old. I'll be on the case, Sonic!"

"Yeah, uh-huh." Sonic, far from being annoyed, merely shot his little bro a grin. "Believe me when I say you'll be right there with me, bud. We'll be holding the hottest races the retirement home has ever seen."

"Heheh, maybe I'll actually beat you for once."

"In your dreams, kiddo!"

"Oh yeah? Just watch me, Sonic! I'll build a super speed wheelchair, and you won't be able to catch up!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Their initial conversation forgotten, Sonic and Tails took to bickering, discussing the different ways one could soup up a wheelchair along the way.


	18. Blank Headed Eagle

**Tag 18 - Blank-Headed Eagle****  
Title: A Day in the Limelight**

It was fun to be the hero for once.

He did have genuine amnesia during part of his time as "Edgar Eagle." He'd be lying if he said he didn't, and that would be a pretty stupid thing to lie about, considering how much trouble the stunt got him in. Scratch suspected that the only reason he wasn't scrap metal was because he "got his memory back" there at the end, and Grounder – stupid, lovable Grounder – pointed out that he only acted like "Edgar Eagle" because of the memory loss. But . . . that wasn't completely true.

The truth was, the reason he went after Sonic was because he wanted some recognition for it – recognition that he never got, but that he _did _get from Henrietta when she thought he was "Edgar Eagle." Even _Sonic _helped him out then, and while he wasn't ready to be best pals with the blue hedgehog, it felt good to have him on his side for once, rather than constantly against him. No, he wasn't really "Edgar Eagle," and he knew that, but it felt better to be "Edgar Eagle" than it did to be "Scratch the Robot."

Sometimes – well, a great deal of the time, to be honest (even though he wasn't programmed to be), Scratch hated his life. So, for that one brief, shining moment, it was good to live someone else's for once.


	19. The Mystery of the Missing Hi Tops

**Tag 19 - The Mystery of the Missing Hi-Tops  
Title: 'Till the End of Time**

Before she changed her name to 'Sonetta,' the name of Sonic's biggest fan had been 'Amy.'

Her name had been Amy, and she was from the Green Hill Zone. She'd lived a pretty peaceful life there with her parents, but it was boring – so boring, and there was absolutely nothing to do. Then Sonic came breezing through her life without a care in the world, and Amy decided that it was time to pack up and go. More than that, it was time to dedicate her entire life to Sonic. She left her family, changed her name, and decided that Sonetta would one day marry the world's fastest hedgehog. Sonic and Sonetta – they would be a match made in heaven.

But, well, it wasn't as easy as she'd hoped. For one thing, Sonic wasn't easy to find. For another, he had a pesky little kid tagging along with him. And for _another_, when she _did _find him, he didn't seem to have any real interest in her.

But after a brief spell of depression, Sonetta decided that was okay. It wouldn't stop her from following him. Someday, she would manage to get his attention – really, truly get it, and when he fell head-over-fast-heels in love with her, she would pretend that she wasn't interested anymore just to _really _make him beg her. And _then_ she would take him, and he would sweep her into his arms, and dash off with her into the sunset. They would marry, have three beautiful children (that they would name Sonia, Sally, and Manic), a large house with a porch swing and a picket fence, and live happily ever after.

Sonetta knew it would happen. She dreamed about it every night. And her dreams were never wrong.

Until then, she would just continue to chase Sonic's burning trail. It didn't matter how long it took – Sonetta had the rest of her life, and she was more than ready to dedicate it to her shining blue hero.

* * *

Though it's obvious they aren't the same character, "Amy" is a reference to the pink hedgehog. Sonia and Manic are the names of Sonic's siblings in _Sonic Underground_, and Sally is the name of the princess in _Sonic_ _SatAM_, as well as the main comics.


	20. So Long Sucker

**Tag 20 - So Long Sucker****  
Title: Substitute**

"I don't think this pet search is working out, li'l bro."

Tails sighed, watching as Chirpy the Cricket made one final getaway by hopping into some underbrush. That was the third creature he'd tried to keep as a pet (the other two being a spider and a lizard), and at this point, he was inclined to agree with Sonic.

"You're right. But I just don't understand. Why don't any of them wanna stay, Sonic?"

"Probably 'cause they're more happy being free, like you." Sonic put a comforting hand on Tails' head, and – sensing the kid's genuine disappointment – said, "But hey, maybe we can get you something else. Not a pet, but . . . something else."

"Like what?" Tails looked up to give Sonic his full attention, and Sonic scratched his chin.

"Hmm . . . How about something to help you keep up with my speed, keed? Something like a . . . a skateboard, maybe?"

"A skateboard? Hmm . . . Yeah, that could be cool. I could use my tails to make it go faster." Tails grinned a little at the prospect, and Sonic grinned in return.

"See? There you go. One substitute skateboard, comin' right up! Back in a buzz, 'cuz!" With that, Sonic took off, and Tails tore off immediately after.

"Wait, Sonic! Wait for me! I wanna pick it out!"


	21. Sonic Gets Thrashed

**Tag 21 - Sonic Gets Thrashed****  
Title: Future Home?**

"Funny that you two were so eager to flood Scrap Valley. That's where you'll be livin' someday, you know."

"Oh, get lost, Coconuts." Scratch turned another page in his comic book, not even bothering to look up as Coconuts entered the room. Grounder, engrossed with the television, didn't turn his head, either. "No one wants to hear your whining today."

"Whining, huh? Whining?" Not heeding Scratch's words, Coconuts made his way into the living room, metallic paws balled into fists. "You talk tough, but you don't succeed any more than I do. Dr. Robotnik hates you just as much as he hates me, and—"

"HaHA-ha-HAAAA! You really think so? That's a laugh! HaHA-ha-HAAA!" Scratch closed his comic book and sat up. "Unlike _you_, _I'm _his _favorite_! You should watch how you talk to me, or I'll make sure you stay on his _bad _side!"

"Yeah right, Scratch! We all know that _I'm _his favorite!" Grounder wheeled around from in front of the television, and Scratch rolled his eyes. "He likes _me _best!"

"Get real, Grounder! What's there to like about you, your empty head?" Scratch reached over to rap one fist against the side of Grounder's head, but Grounder actually looked proud.

"Yes! My empty head is rather admirable, thank you!"

"Oh, will you both shut up?" Coconuts exploded. "The truth is, he hates all of us, because none of us have managed to catch that blasted hedgehog yet! Each day we try just a little more of his patience, and one day he's gonna build new robots, and then we'll have nowhere to go _but _Scrap Valley, home of the rejects!" Coconuts jabbed one accusing finger at Scratch and Grounder. "You two should be happy they took his resort to expand their village, 'cause that's where we're gonna end up someday!"

"He . . . He wouldn't do that," Grounder said, shooting Scratch a hopeful look. "He likes us too much."

"Yeah," Scratch agreed, though he looked just as uncertain as Grounder. "That's why he keeps rebuilding us. _You're _the one that should be worried, Coconuts. _You're _the one constantly on sewer duty."

Coconuts bared his teeth, shaking with barely controlled rage. "Oh yeah?" he challenged, though he didn't wait for them to reply. "We'll see—no, _you'll _see! You'll _both _see! Whoever gets that hedgehog first has a guaranteed ticket out of Scrap Valley! Someday you two morons will both be there, while I'll be sitting here with a nice promotion! You'll see!" With that, Coconuts turned and ran from the room, his footsteps echoing down the hallway. Scratch and Grounder sat in silence for a moment, pondering over what had just happened, before Grounder spoke.

"Do . . . Do you think Coconuts has a point? Should we go look for Sonic now?"

"Nah. Coconuts was just babbling like usual. It's not like he actually has a chance of getting anything done." Scratch settled back down with his comic, and Grounder wheeled back over to the television. "We only have an hour at most before Dr. Robotnik yells for us again, anyway. Might as well make the most of it."


	22. Pseudo Sonic

**Tag 22 - Pseudo Sonic****  
Title: Livin' the Dream**

Pseudo Sonic was definitely a _bad _thing. It ruined Sonic's reputation, and it was only by sheer force of will that they were able to undo the damage.

But still . . . Tails couldn't hate the suit completely.

Along with being Tails' big brother, Sonic was also Tails' hero. He'd be lying if he said that he didn't wish he could _be _the hedgehog every once in awhile. Being Sonic's fellow Freedom Fighter was way past cool, but it would be way, _way _past cool to actually _be _Sonic himself.

And for a little while . . . Tails got to live that dream.

It was a lot different being in control of the speed rather than just being a passenger, but it was _amazing_. When he was in the Pseudo Sonic mech suit, Tails felt like he could do anything. There was no reason to be afraid, because Sonic wouldn't be afraid. And there was no reason to slow down, because Sonic wouldn't slow down. Since the suit was metal, he didn't even have to use doors. He could just bust in and do whatever he wanted, because for that one, brief moment, he _was _Sonic.

And Tails would be lying if he said that it didn't make him feel way, way, _way _past cool.


	23. Grounder the Genius

**Tag 23 - Grounder the Genius  
Title: The Way You Are**

"Hey . . . Scratch?"

"What now, Grounder? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Uh . . . Yes?" Scratch didn't look _that_ busy. He was watching "Edgar Eagle," sure, but it was a re-run, and Grounder had seen enough of the show to at least know that much. Scratch didn't move from his position in front of the television, and Grounder debated whether or not he should just leave, but in the end decided not to. He was Scratch's brother, and therefore just as worthy of Scratch's attention as that television show, especially since Scratch had already seen it!

"Scratch," he tried again, and Scratch made a grunt to show that he heard, "do you think that maybe I should've kept that genius chip somehow?"

"What?"

"I said, do you think that—"

"Oh, for the love of—I heard you, Grounder, don't repeat yourself!" Scratch turned off the television and sat up, turning to give Grounder a look that made him shrink back. "What're you babblin' about, anyway? Why do you think you should have kept that stupid chip?"

"No, not the stupid chip—the genius chip!" Grounder clarified, and Scratch slapped a palm to his face.

"Yes, I know that—just get on with it, you dimbot. Why did you want to keep it?"

"Well, that's why—because I'm not as smart without it." Grounder poked the ends of his armdrills together as Scratch gave him a flat look. "Maybe I was more useful with it."

Silence reigned for a few moments before Scratch finally spoke. "You're stupid, annoying, incompetent, a waste of space, energy, and parts, and someday I'm going to make sure you roll off a very steep cliff so that your parts can never be recovered and Dr. Robotnik never fixes you. You're fine the way you are, so shut up and stop whining." With that, Scratch turned back to the television, leaving Grounder to stare at him for a few moments before smiling.

"Aww, Scratch! Did you really mean everything you said just now!"

"You bet I—Grounder, what are you doing? Get off!"

"Aww, Scratch, I never knew you cared! C'mon, give me a hug!"

"No, I am _not _giving you a hug, get off me! Dr. Robotnik! Dr. Robotnik, Grounder's trying to give me a _hug_!" Scratch twisted his neck down to leer at Grounder. "You're going to get it now, you _know _how Dr. Robotnik hates affection!"

"Ack!" Grounder quickly rolled backward, waving his drills in the air. "I—I didn't do anything, honest!"

"And keep it that way," Scratch snapped, turning back to the television for the third time. Grounder kept his distance, not sure if Dr. Robotnik had really heard or not, but he still couldn't resist a small grin.

Sometimes, he _really _hated Scratch, but he was still convinced that he had the best big brother in the world.


	24. Tails in Charge

**Tag 24 - Tails in Charge****  
Title: Proud**

What started off as a major goof-up turned into the most awesome rescue of all time.

Sonic couldn't be more proud.

Not only had Tails managed to restore him to his proper form, but he'd _also _managed to protect not only Sonic, but himself, too. Tails had effectively out-witted both of Robotnik's goons, and while that was something that Sonic did on a regular basis, Tails was usually the target of frequent kidnappings. To think that he'd managed to outwit them both – and so cleverly, too! Sonic found himself laughing quietly hours after just _thinking _about what _his _little brother put them through. Tails' traps were ingenious, as was his plan to reverse the stone curse that they'd laid on him. Tails was a Freedom Fighter through and through, and to be honest . . .

Well, Sonic was just _really _freakin' proud.

Laughing suddenly, Sonic reached over and pulled Tails into a one-armed hug. After getting over his initial surprise, Tails asked, "Whoa, what's up, Sonic?"

"Nothin', li'l bro – nothin' at all. I was just thinking that it's good to have you by my side. You know there's no one I'd rather have backin' me up, right?" Tails grinned, and held out one fist.

"Same goes for you, big bro! We're a team, right?"

"You got it!" Bumping his fist lightly against Tails', Sonic added, "From now, 'till always!"


	25. Sno Problem

**Tag 25 - Sno Problem****  
Title: Target Misfire**

The problem wasn't with the servitude chips, Robotnik decided. No, it was with the ones he decided to use them on.

There was no need to equip Scratch and Grounder with servitude chips. They _already _served him, and in hindsight he saw that doing so was a waste of time. What services could they possibly offer him? As his servants, they already foiled his plans on a regular basis. With henchmen like them, he really didn't _need _Sonic at all. They ruined his day enough on his own.

And using the servitude chip on Tails, while an easy target and a good target in theory, really didn't do him much good either, thanks to Scratch and Grounder. Aside from that, besides serving as bait for Sonic, Tails himself didn't really offer much use. He was too young. Too small. Too slow. Perhaps, once he got a little older, a servitude chip could be used to make him attack Sonic. Sonic wouldn't want to fight back for fear of hurting his darling "little brother," and by that point Tails would have enough strength to be able to deal actual damage.

Yes . . . It was a tantalizing thought, indeed, but one that would have to wait. For now, the runt was just that – a runt. He couldn't hurt Sonic if he tried.

No, the one that would be _ideal _to use a servitude chip on would be Sonic himself. Oh, how all of Robotnik's plans would succeed if he got Sonic on his side! He could send Scratch and Grounder to Scrap Valley where they belonged, and Sonic could help him carry out his various misdeeds. Tails would be thrown in the dungeon, of course, and Sonic . . . Yes, it was a fabulous idea, indeed, and one that Robotnik planned to carry out immediately upon catching the blasted hedgehog.

. . . But then, that was always the crux of the matter, wasn't it?


	26. Submerged Sonic

**Disclaimer: **My rights to anything coming from _The Lion King _were submerged before they even existed.

* * *

**Tag 26 - Submerged Sonic****  
Title: Can't Wait to, uh, be King and Stuff**

"I'm gonna, like, be a mighty king, dudes! So enemies, uh . . . beware!" Now that he was allowed to date Princess Bubbles, Surf thought that it was safe to entertain ideas of marrying her, and ideas of marrying her led to ideas of being king, and those ideas led to . . .

"I've never seen a king of the sea with quite such dirty hair." One of the fellow guards of the royal army seemed keen on crushing his dreams, and Surf spun around to give him a pout.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna, like, be the main, uh, event, like no king was before! I'm . . . uh . . . like, brushing up, and, like, looking down . . . I'm . . . uh . . . I'm workin' with my sword!" Surf brandished his sword and the other guard snorted, moving past him.

"Thus far a rather uninspiring thing."

"Dude, I just can't _wait _to be king!" Surf waved the sword again, yet this time ended up dropping it, and the guard burst into laughter. Surf's cheeks flushed, and he hurriedly picked up the weapon. "But maybe I better, like, work on being a guard and stuff first, huh?"


	27. Boogey Mania

**Tag 27 - Boogey-Mania****  
Title: Nightmares**

Tails' Boogeyman was useful for getting rid of Robotnik's, and Sonic knew that at the time, it was the best course of action to take.

He really wished it hadn't come back to haunt them later.

He was woken by the sound of Tails' soft cries, and looked over to see the young fox trembling beneath his blanket with the force of his sobs. There were nights when Tails woke himself up from his nightmares, and on those nights Sonic could usually feel the small fox slide under his blankets with him, seeking comfort. That was always fine. Sonic didn't care.

But sometimes the nightmares trapped Tails so deeply that he _couldn't _wake up – at least, not on his own. Those nights Sonic always woke up to the sound of Tails crying, and after getting over the initial panic that Robotnik was attacking and Tails was hurt, he always felt upset (in a quieter way) that Tails was upset at all. It meant that instead of Tails coming to him, Sonic had to crawl across the campsite to go to Tails, because there was no way that he could go back to sleep when his little bro was crying like that.

"Tails? Hey, Tails, buddy, wake up." Sonic kept his voice low, not wanting to scare him, and reached out to gently shake him. "C'mon, Tails – up and at 'em, atta boy."

"So–Sonic?" Tails' voice came out in a little whimper, and Sonic felt a fraction of his heart break off.

"Yeah, buddy, it's me. C'mon, you're awake now. No more nightmares."

"Ni–Nightmare?" Tails pushed himself up a little too quickly, and Sonic steadied him.

"Yeah, bud, and from the looks of it, a pretty bad one." Tails wiped at his eyes, and Sonic pretended that he didn't notice. "I'm sorry – it must've been the remnants of that junk food."

"N–No. We had to do that. It's okay." Tails sniffled, and forced a smile. "Just blame Robotnik. It's all his fault, anyway."

"You bet it is, and you bet I will." Sonic forced a smile of his own, yet then sobered up, asking, "So, you wanna talk about it? We probably should. You know it's always better if you do."

"Yeah, but . . ."

"C'mon, keed, spit it out. You'll feel better, I promise." Sonic shifted his arms so that they were around Tails, and finally, Tails nodded.

"O–Okay. I . . . I dreamed . . . I dreamed about you." Sonic was about to crack a joke about that, but decided against it as Tails continued. "I dreamed that something happened to you—something bad. You were fighting Robotnik—one of his big robots, and you—it hit you in the chest, and it hurt you. You started acting like you couldn't breathe. And then—and then it hit you again, and—and you didn't get up again, and I tr–tried to help, I r–really did, but I co–couldn't, and you weren't mo–moving, and you weren't bre–breathing, and Ro–Robotnik s–said you were de–de—!"

"Hey, hey!" Sonic's voice was soft despite his words as Tails turned and started full-out sobbing into his chest, wrapping his arms around Sonic and squeezing him tight. In return, Sonic pulled Tails fully into his embrace, hugging the trembling fox as tightly as he could without hurting him. "It's okay, Tails! It's okay, I promise. _I'm _okay. I'm right here, see? I'm right here, and I'm okay. Nothing's happened to me."

"I–I kn–know, but—but it fe–felt so re–real," Tails gasped, his sobs not subsiding. Sonic rubbed small, consoling circles into Tails' back.

"I know, bud, I know. But it was just a nightmare, okay? Nothing's happened to me, and nothing _will _happen to me. There's no way ol' eggbreath will ever be fast enough to catch me, and neither will anything he builds."

"Pr–Promise?"

"Promise."

"Promise you won't . . . leave me?" That last bit came out so quietly Sonic almost missed it, and when he looked down, he saw that Tails was looking up at him with super wet, super scared eyes.

"I promise," he repeated, no traces of humor in sight. "I'm right here, Tails, and I always will be. You don't have to worry about that, okay?"

A few heartbeats of silence passed before Tails nodded, letting out a shaky breath and raising one hand to wipe at his eyes again. "O–Okay." He shifted his position, snuggling down so that he could half-lay against Sonic, apparently deciding that he'd rather sleep there than alone. As far as Sonic was concerned, that was fine with him. If that was what the kid needed to feel safe and secure, so be it. Just as he was settling into a more comfortable position himself, Tails' head on his chest so that he could hear Sonic's heartbeat, Sonic heard Tails breathe, "Thank you."

"No problem, keed," Sonic murmured, putting one hand on Tails' head. "Any time."


	28. Musta Been a Beautiful Baby

**Tag 28 - Musta Been a Beautiful Baby****  
Title: Static Shock, or Poof the Magic Fox?**

"Ahahaha! You're a mess, keed!"

"Sonic! Don't laugh!" Tails puffed out his cheeks in a pout, yet after a moment, realized this didn't make much of a difference. Due to stray static electricity, his fur was puffed out to the pout where he looked like a walking furball, much to his dismay. Others usually found him adorable like this, and where they didn't, Sonic found him hilarious. Sonic suffered the pains of static cling like anyone else, but only Tails had to deal with exceptionally poofy fur.

"Ahahaha, I can't help it! Look how fuzzy you are!" Sonic reached out to ruffle the fur on Tails' head, no doubt making the problem worse, but retracted his hand just as quickly. "Whoa, you're also like a walking light socket! I'd say that I'd only touch you with a ten foot metal pole, but at this rate that'd be likely to electrocute me."

"It'd be useful, but probably Scratch and Grounder wouldn't get close enough to touch me." Tails sighed. "If only I could raise one arm and zap 'em, like . . . this!" With a flourish, Tails pointed one finger at a nearby light pole, and static electricity flashed from his finger and struck the metal pole. "Whoa! Didja see that, Sonic? Didja?"

"I sure did, little buddy. Looks like you've got some serious shock problems. But that gives me an idea." Sonic grinned. "C'mon, li'l bro! We're gonna go find us some Badniks."


	29. Robotnik JR

**Tag 29 - Robotnik JR.****  
Title: Didn't Fit In**

"It was just as well that Junior left, Your Rottenness. He didn't fit in here, anyway."

"_Silence_!" Robotnik glowered at Scratch, who at least had the dignity to recoil and look as though he'd done something wrong. "How dare you speak out against my son, you miserable metalhead? He was ten times the robot you'll ever be!"

"Yeah, well, at least I know my place," Scratch muttered. "And besides, he ran off to help that hedgehog! At least I haven't done that!"

"Yeah!" Grounder agreed. "Not even _Coconuts _does that!"

"_Yeah_!" Coconuts chimed in, and Robotnik could feel a headache coming on. "I've never helped that miserable hedgehog, not once! And I didn't try to kill off Junior, either! I should get a promotion for that, right? Right? A promotion's in store for me, right?"

"Yeah right, Coconuts!" Scratch screeched. "The day you get a promotion is the day the hedgehog decides to willingly serve our supreme leader, haHA-ha-HAAA!"

"Maybe he will!" Coconuts yelled. "Maybe I'll convince him to, and _that's _how I'll get my promotion! You just watch! I'll make it happen!"

"No you won't, 'cause Scratch and I will catch the hedgehog first! You'll see! And we'll do it faster than Junior ever could, 'cause now Junior's friends with him, right, Your Ultimate Nastiness?" Grounder looked up at Robotnik with all the hopefulness of a young child on Christmas morning, and Robotnik had the urge to throw the robot into an active volcano.

"If all three of you don't get out of my face this instant," he hissed in his most dangerous voice, "then the only opponents the hedgehog will have to face will be burning piles of scrap metal."

". . . and the burning piles of scrap metal will be _us_, right, Your Evilness?" Grounder asked in a tiny voice. Robotnik only made it to "one" in his count to three before he exploded.

"GET _OUT_!" All three robots beat a hasty retreat for the exit, each loudly blaming the other two for the explosion of his temper, and Robotnik sank into a chair, wiping one hand across his sweaty brow.

Well, there was one thing that Scratch was right about it when it came to Junior. He really _hadn't _fit in after all. He didn't constantly compete for Robotnik's affection like the other three (and indeed, seemed not to care whether he had it or not), nor was he loud and aggressive, nor did he constantly fail . . . truth be told, he really didn't fit in with his "brothers" after all.

All the same, Robotnik missed him.


	30. Full Tilt Tails

**Tag 30 - Full Tilt Tails****  
Title: Useful**

So, he wasn't really fast. That was okay – really, it was. Tails assured himself that he was, and so did Sonic. He just wasn't ready for it yet, and Mobius only needed one blur.

But if he couldn't be useful by being fast, then how _could _he?

Sonic assured him that he was useful just as he was, but Tails wasn't so sure. Sonic was right – Tails _was _an able flier. But was that really good enough? Even flying, he couldn't keep up with Sonic, and sometimes Sonic got up to speeds that were high enough to propel him in the air, anyway. Even without Tails' help, getting airborne wasn't something that Sonic ever really had a problem with.

So what could he do? How could he be useful? What did he have that others didn't?

Well, two tails were one thing, and Tails swore that he would practice flying daily, just so that he could make sure he was really the best at it. But they weren't the _only _thing. He was smart, too, and he could put that to good use, couldn't he? Robotnik was a super evil genius, and he built robots, but . . . Robotnik's robots weren't the _only _robots. And if Tails could get better with machinery and computers, then they wouldn't have to rely on people like Hacker. Even more, he could be robots that were _better _than Robotnik's! Soon, Robotnik wouldn't even have _that _advantage over them!

With that new resolve in mind, Tails began working on pet projects whenever he got the chance, taking things apart to see how they worked and reading books on machinery. Sonic said that Tails didn't have to push himself, but Tails replied that he wasn't pushing himself – he was training, and _bettering _himself. Sonic didn't push the subject after that, and Tails could only grin.

He couldn't _wait _to see the look on Robuttnik's face when it was _Tails _he was facing on the battlefield, rather than Sonic.


	31. MacHopper

**Tag 31 - MacHopper****  
Title: Magic Food**

"Whoever thought that chili would be the thing to snap MacHopper out of his mind control, Sonic?"

"I don't know, but it just goes to prove the age-old fact: chili dogs are the best food known to Mobiankind." Sonic slid one across the table to Tails, who happily began to chow down, and grinned. "By this point, you'd think Robotnik and his goon squad would stop trying to trap us with chili dogs. It never works out in their favor."

"Yeah, no kidding," Tails said, swallowing his mouthful. "After all, it's the magic food, and it's on _our _side!"

"You said it, li'l bro." Sonic took a huge bite of his own, relishing in the spicy flavor. "You said it."


	32. Momma Robotnik Returns

**Tag 32 - Momma Robotnik Returns  
Title: Adoption**

"What do you think would've happened if it wasn't Momma Robotnik that wanted to adopt you, Sonic?"

"Huh?" Once again, Sonic felt off-guard by his precocious best bud's questions as Tails flew around to hover in front of his face. "What're you talkin' about? If it wasn't her, we wouldn't have been in court in the first place."

"But what if we were?" Tails pressed. "What if it was someone else who wanted to adopt you, and they were actual parents? What then?"

"Tails, no one would want to adopt me," Sonic said, and he was being quite serious. "I'm rebellious, I have an attitude, I'd be sure to mess up their house with my super Sonic speed—"

"But what if someone did?" Tails insisted, and Sonic felt a bit frustrated at Tails' inability to let things go. "What if there was a couple that _did _want to adopt you, and they showed up instead of Momma Robotnik?"

"Then I guess I'd be adopted right now, wouldn't I?" Sonic said, his tone a bit sarcastic. Tails continued to watch him, as if expecting him to say something else, and as if he could read Tails' mind, a different thought occurred to him. "Or . . ."

"Or what?" Tails asked, and Sonic frowned.

"Well, it's a tricky situation, keed. On the one hand, the law's the law, and we've gotta follow it. On the other – and I didn't press this _because _it was Momma Robotnik, and I didn't want to get you near her if I didn't have to – but it's not just me, is it? If anyone wanted to adopt _me, _they'd have to adopt _you_, too."

"Huh?" This time Tails looked like he was the one caught off-guard. "But they couldn't adopt me, Sonic."

"And why is that?"

"Because you already adopted me." Tails spoke like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Remember? You're my mom, you're my dad, and you're my picket fence."

Sonic couldn't help it – he laughed. "Well, this is an unofficial adoption. The law doesn't recognize this," Sonic motioned between them. "But that's just what I'm talkin' about. If they wanted me, they'd have to take you, too. We're a package deal, right?"

"Right!" Tails grinned, but then the smile faded. "What do you mean, the law doesn't recognize us? Does that mean someone could adopt me, too?" He looked almost afraid, and Sonic frowned.

"Yeah, I . . . I guess it does. But there's no need to worry, keed." He reached out to pat Tails on the head. "We've held out this long, and in three more years, I won't be a minor anymore. When I turn eighteen, _I'll _adopt you."

Tails' eyes lit up. "You better! And until then, we'll just run away from anyone who tries to adopt either of us, right?" That wasn't exactly following the law, and Sonic knew that he was supposed to be teaching Tails better than that, but . . .

"You got it in one, kiddo."


	33. Spaceman Sonic

**Tag 33 - Spaceman Sonic****  
Title: Doing It Wrong**

"I have got to give you props, li'l bro. This escape capsule works like a charm."

"Yeah, well, you did a lot of the work." Tails rubbed at the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. "I'm not even flying it – you are."

"Yeah, but that's only because your feet weren't big enough to reach the pedals," Sonic said, and Tails felt his grin grow a little more. "And you still did more work than I did. You were the real mastermind behind this operation – I just helped."

"Not really . . ."

"Oh, will you two knock it off?" Scratch's voice echoed from the top of the escape capsule, and Sonic rolled his eyes. "You're going to make me hurl!"

"Yeah, really!" Grounder agreed from the front. "You're supposed to be arguing about who did the most work, not trying to give each other more credit!"

"Yeah, geniuses. You only push the credit onto each other if it's for something _bad_."

"Maybe that works for you two junk heaps, but Tails and I have a much better relationship," Sonic said, and Tails nodded.

"Yeah. We're _brothers_."

"We're brothers, too!" Grounder countered, but Scratch spoke over him.

"Don't accuse me of being related to you!"

"We are! Dr. Robotnik used your tail feather to make me!"

"Yeah, and look how that turned out!"

"Better, I'd say!"

"If by 'better' you mean 'uglier,' then I'd agree!"

"Remind me to purposely crash when we get back so we can shut these two up," Sonic said, and Tails nodded.

"Roger that, captain."


	34. Mad Mike Da Bear Warrior

**Tag 34 - Mad Mike, Da Bear Warrior****  
Title: Real Name**

"Miles ahead of ya, Mil—I mean, Tails, old buddy!" Laughing a sheepish laugh, Sonic took off to the ice sculpture before Tails could even register what happened. When he did, his eyes widened.

Sonic didn't . . . did he?

"Hey, Tails." Big Mike came wandering over to him, blinking curiously down at him. "Did Sonic almost just call you somethin' else just now?

"What? No! My name's Tails. Why would Sonic ever call me something different?"

"Oh, well, it almost sounded like he called you Mile or somethin'." Big Mike scratched his head, and Tails felt a sudden urge to throttle his best friend. "Musta just been my faulty hearin'."

"Yeah. Must've been!" Tails forced a grin as Sonic finished the ice sculpture, but as soon as it was done, he grabbed his best friend's hand and dragged him off.

"Tails, what's the big idea?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" Tails rounded on Sonic, folding his arms across his chest. "You almost called me you-know-what, and Big Mike heard! He almost found out!"

"Hey, relax, li'l bro! No one actually heard, right? No big deal!"

"But it _is _a big deal! You were making a pun out of it and everything, weren't you?" Tails accused. "That's exactly why I hate it, Sonic! It's stupid! My whole real name is stupid!"

"Aw, c'mon, it's not that—wait, whole name? You have a last name, too?" Sonic raised his eyebrows. "You never told me that."

"Because it's stupid," Tails said, glowering at the ground. "It's a stupid pun and I hate it, and I'm never telling you because you already make fun of my first name."

"C'mon, Tails, it was one joke in the past three years we've known each other. I do not make fun of your real name." Much, anyway. "Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"Tell me or I'll noogie it out of you," Sonic warned. Tails took a step back, raising his chin in defiance.

"You'll have to catch me first."

"Keed, you don't wanna challenge me to a game of speed."

"It's not about speed, it's about altitude." Tails started spinning the tails he was nicknamed for, hovering a few inches off the ground. "Once I get far enough out, there'll be nothing for you to jump off of, and you won't be able to ca—hey, Sonic, no fair, that's cheating!"

"I never said I'd play fair, li'l bro! You should've learned better from Robotnik by now – monologuing never pays off." Wrapping one arm around Tails' neck, Sonic used his other hand to begin digging his knuckles into Tails' scalp. "Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Ow! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

"Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me—"

"No, no, no, ow, ow, no, no, ow, no, ow—!"

"Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me—!"

"_PROWER_!" Tails finally cried, giving into the burning Sonic's knuckles were creating on his scalp. "It's Prower! My real name is Miles Prower!"

Sonic released Tails, who was breathing hard as he gingerly touched his burning scalp, wincing as he did so. Sonic felt a bit bad, but as Tails' big brother, it was practically his duty to do stuff like this _sometimes_ – and besides, the payoff was worth it.

"Miles Prower, huh?" he said, considering it. "Miles Prower . . . Oh, I get it. Like 'miles per hour.'"

"Yeah," Tails muttered, scowling. "It's stupid. I hate it."

"Aw, it's not _that _bad. Look at it this way, keed – it's like your parents always knew you'd end up with me." Sonic reached out and patted Tails' shoulder, and Tails looked a tiny bit mollified.

"Yeah . . . I guess. But I still hate it."

"Well, that's a good thing, because you've been 'Tails' for the past three years, and I don't think I could get used to calling you anything different."

Despite the fact that his head still hurt from the noogie attack, Tails grinned. "And that's a double good thing."


	35. The Last Resort

**Tag 35 - The Last Resort****  
Title: The Unmitigated Gall to Have Fun**

Yeah, Sonic was pretty good at that.

As it turned out, there was a party going down in the Emerald Hill Zone. It wasn't quite as designed to test Sonic's tenacity to live as Robotnik's resort, but there was music, good food, good music, and a whole lot of kicking back. As much as Sonic loved the risky ventures, something a little less hazardous to Tails' health could only be a good thing.

Especially since it didn't depend on him making speedy moves in Checkers.

"Hey, Sonic!" Tails swooped off a loop and jumped off a spring, flipping a few times in the air before coming to a stop beside him. "Come on, let's go this way! There's an underground tunnel, and it's filled with spikes, but there's springs that you can use to propel yourself even faster to try and get through 'em! I've already done it once, it's a lot of fun!"

Well, truth be told, that sounded pretty hazardous to Tails' health. But truth be told, that _also _sounded like a _lot _of fun, and if Tails had already done it once . . .

"Last one there's a slow-mo!" Sonic took off, Tails following along at his heels, and let himself laugh.

Unlike Robotnik's resort, where hedgehog was on the main course for any robots who could actually catch their food, _this _was a party in the Emerald Hills, and Sonic had nothing if not the unmitigated gall to have fun.

And as far as he could see, taking a bouncy, speedy trip through a tunnel lined with spikes was exactly what this party needed.


	36. Robotnik's Rival

**Tag 36 - Robotnik's Rival****  
Title: Too Exhausting**

With Brandon Quark out of the picture and Robotnik the only one standing, there was really only one question that Tails could think of to ask.

"Do you think _you'll _ever have a rival, Sonic?"

"Me?" Sonic raised an eyebrow, looking bemused by Tails' question. "Are you kidding? There's no one who could give me a run for _my _money."

"Yeah, but someone might try." Tails looked up to the sky, losing himself to his own imagination. "Maybe it would be another hedgehog, only instead of being blue, he'd be . . . black. And he'd be nearly as fast as you, and . . . and he'd be evil, too!"

"And what would this joker's name be?" Sonic asked, definitely amused now. Tails pondered it, tapping one finger against his snout.

"Umm . . . Shade. No, Shadow! Yeah, his name could be something like Shadow. Or—Or maybe he wouldn't even be a hedgehog at all! Maybe he'd be some other kind of Mobian, and he'd be red, and not as fast as you, but super strong! He'd fight with his fists, like this." Tails mimed punching the air, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth. "He could be called Knuckles because of that."

Sonic laughed, and reached out to muss the top of Tails' head. "Nah, I'll pass. Robotnik having a rival was enough work for me. It'd be too much effort to have one of my own. Besides," he added with a smirk, "neither of those two losers you thought up could match me in speed, right? Where's the fun in that?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Tails laughed as well. "But still, it's funny to think about, huh, Sonic?"

"You said it, li'l bro."


	37. The Magic Hassle

**Disclaimer: **I really do feel bad for Coconuts, and there is nothing magical about the lack of control I hold over the rights to Harry Potter.

* * *

**Tag 37 - The Magic Hassle****  
Title: The Cupboard Under the Stairs**

Dreams of glory were shattered at his feet, and Coconuts was back in a small, dark bathroom, scrubbing at a grime-caked bowl with all of the strength his tiny body could muster.

This was his existence, and he hated it.

Day in and day out, it was always the same. It wouldn't have been so bad to be one of Dr. Robotnik's robots if he could at least live the life that Scratch and Grounder did. Whenever he heard them complaining, it always set his teeth on edge. They thought _their _lives were bad? Oh, Sonic hurt them today, and oh, Dr. Robotnik called them idiots for failing! Big whoop, baaaw more. If all he had to deal with was a stern reprimand before he was released to go back to comic books and cartoons, he'd consider his life golden and sacred. Whenever _he _wanted to go a few rounds with Sonic, he always had to sneak out. Technically, Coconuts wasn't allowed to leave the fortress. Technically, he was supposed to always stay out of sight and out of mind, cleaning the toilets if he was lucky, mucking the sewers if he wasn't. When Scratch and Grounder were out in Mobius, messing up and making Dr. Robotnik furious, the tongue lashing they got was only _after _he'd had time to cool down by kicking Coconuts across the room. The indirect physical abuse they suffered at the hands of Sonic was nothing like the direct physical abuse that Coconuts suffered at the hands of Dr. Robotnik. To say that Dr. Robotnik disliked him would be a _huge _understatement; Dr. Robotnik _hated _him, and seemed to have created him just to have an outlet for his anger.

Coconuts slammed the toilet brush down into the toilet, and slumped against the grimy wall.

He hated it. He hated everything about it. He hated Sonic, for being his one-way ticket out of a miserable existence, yet slipping through his fingers every time. He hated Scratch and Grounder for having brilliant lives, yet complaining all the time. He hated Tails for having an even _better _life and caretaker, and not even realizing what it was that he had. He hated Dr. Robotnik for always treating him worse than the gum that got stuck to the bottom of his shoe. And he hated himself for not being good enough to get out of the situation.

If he could've, Coconuts might've cried, for it would have been the perfect woe-is-me icing for the pity cake he wanted to make for himself. But robots cried only about as much as they ate, which was to say never.

_Never_, just like the better life he'd always dreamed of. Deep down, Coconuts had known that everything Wes Weasley was selling him was a scam. He'd known it, but he hadn't cared. The truth was, even more than catching Sonic, Coconuts just wanted to be a wizard. He wasn't allowed to read, but he'd snuck some books back inside the fortress from one of his forbidden excursions out, and when everyone else was asleep, Coconuts had used the bulb on top of his head for light as he locked himself in a closet, reading about a boy who was an abused house servant like him one night, but off on a magical journey to a wizarding school the next. Coconuts wanted to be that boy. Sure, he was on sanitation duty _now_, but maybe someday someone would rescue him, and he'd go from sleeping in the cleaning closet to sleeping in a dormitory at a school where he could learn magic.

Maybe it was a dream he'd never achieve, but that didn't stop him from wanting it so badly he could taste it.

"_Coconuts_!" The enraged yell made Coconuts jump, and then his shoulders slumped. "Get up here, _now_!"

Picking himself up off the floor, Coconuts exited the bathroom and made his way to the main room, where Dr. Robotnik was glowering at him from the center, Scratch and Grounder in the background. Coconuts slumped in, hesitation making his every step drag.

"You called, Your Evil—ack!"

Dr. Robotnik kicked him hard, sending him sailing across the room and right into the wall. He was dazed, but as the stars cleared from his vision, he could hear Scratch and Grounder laughing.

"That's for that ridiculous bill I now owe to that Wes Weasley!" Dr. Robotnik snarled. "I thought you needed a reminder of how much it pains me. After all, however much this pains me, you can rest assured that you will feel _double_!"

"Y–Yes, Dr. Robotnik, sir, of course." Coconuts stood up, thankful that he was made out of metal so that he didn't have to deal with any bruised ribs, but as he made his way out of the room, Dr. Robotnik kicked him again, this time sending him right back down the stairs.

"And clean those toilets!" With that, the door to the main room slammed shut, and Coconuts once again pushed himself up off the floor.

Someday, maybe, someone would come rescue him. They would take him away from _this_, and take him _to _a place where he could be great. When he made his way back to the bathroom, Coconuts picked up the toilet brush, and waved it like a magic wand.

Someday . . .


	38. Sonic the Matchmaker

**Tag 38 - Sonic the Matchmaker  
Title: Sonic Swear**

Truth be told, Sonic still kind of liked her.

He wouldn't have spent so much time with her if he didn't. Sure, he said that it was because she was a friend – and he made sure to emphasize that – but there was a reason he felt himself more drawn to Breezie than Junior. He didn't _want _to like her – she was a _robot_ – but he did. He couldn't help it.

But . . . he _had _to help it. He'd promised Tails.

While Breezie went on about how much of a hero he was, Sonic stole a glance over at Tails and Junior. His hearing had never been as good as his sight, but it didn't need to be. Sonic's sight was good enough to let him read Tails' lips, and he could see everything the young fox was saying. He was assuring Junior that Sonic only thought of Breezie as a friend. He felt positive about this – positively good. Tails had taken the Sonic Swear to heart, and he wasn't going to let go of it any time soon.

Well, good. He didn't have to. There was no way anything was going to happen with Breezie. No way, no how—

"Oh, _Son_ic!" Breezie threw herself onto him, and Sonic nearly collapsed under the sudden weight. "It just pains me to think we could be separated again! You wouldn't ever leave me, would you?"

"Sorry, Breezie." Sonic gently pushed her off, and tried not to feel the tugs on his heart when faced with her pouting lip and sullen eyes. "It just can't work out between us. Too many things stand in the way. You're a robot, I'm not, and on top of that, I've got—"

"A real flair for poetry," Breezie purred, stroking a hand along his cheek. Sonic took in a deep breath, and then released it.

Oh boy. This was going to be one tough promise to keep . . .


	39. Tails Prevails

**Tag 39 - Tails Prevails  
Title: Geek Boy Extraordinaire**

As far as Sonic was concerned, Tails had always been useful.

But now that he was openly putting his mechanical abilities to good use . . .

It wasn't just Sonic's things that he was fixing. Wherever they went, as often as Sonic pulled someone out of the way of a speeding bus, Tails fixed up their car. Whenever anything mechanical needed working with, Tails started to be the fox that people went to. He was barely five years old, but he was already getting renown as a genius.

To tell the truth, Sonic was proud.

Well, proud was one part of it. He wasted no time in praising his genius little buddy, but at the same time, he also couldn't waste the time in protecting him. Robotnik already hated him, because he was "that hedgehog" that always foiled his plans, but while he'd never held Tails in very high regard due to the fact that Tails was Sonic's companion, he'd also never really paid that much attention to him. Now that people were starting to praise Tails as a mechanical genius, on the other hand . . .

"Swat that fox!" Robotnik screeched, and Scratch and Grounder turned their attention to Tails, who froze in mid-air. "I want him squished! Squashed! Flatten him like the little bug he is!"

"Aye, aye, Captain Monstrosity!" Scratch crowed, his long legs easily covering the distance between himself and Tails. "C'mere, you little twerp!"

"Aaah! No way!" Tails swerved out of the way of Scratch's bat, and before the rooster robot could take another swing, Sonic intercepted, ripping the bat from Scratch's hands and slamming it into Grounder's face. This wasn't the first time Robotnik had called for Tails' head, and Sonic was sure that it wouldn't be the last. Robotnik hated being shown up no matter who it was that was doing the showing, and Tails' mechanical prowess just made him an open target for Robotnik's ire.

And, well, to tell the truth . . . it wasn't just Robotnik's ire, either.

Sonic loved Tails. To say that he was proud of his kid brother was an understatement. But he was just that – Sonic's kid brother, and as the older brother (now sixteen), Sonic felt that it was his duty to do one thing, and do it well:

_Tease._

"What'cha workin' on, squirt?" Sonic hopped up on the side of Tails' picnic-table-turned-workbench, and Tails – a bit of oil splotched above his eye, gave Sonic a grin.

"Oh, I don't know. I was thinking about maybe making a few modifications to your birthday present. Wouldn't it be cool if it really could shoot lasers? We could use it to get Scratch and Grounder!"

"Good thinking, little bro!" Sonic flashed Tails a thumbs-up, a gesture which Tails quickly returned. "Nothing less than I'd expect from our resident Geek Boy!"

"Geek Boy? Sooooniiiiiiic." Tails stuck out his tongue at Sonic to accentuate his whine, and Sonic laughed.

"You heard me! Back to work, Geek Boy; let me know if you need any help."

"You'd probably just end up breaking it," Tails fired back, and returned to what he was doing. Far from feeling insulted, Sonic just grinned.

That was the kid brother he knew and loved, all right.


	40. Zoobotnik

**Tag 40 - Zoobotnik****  
Title: Mutant**

They were all captured, but for all intents and purposes, Tails may as well have been in a room by himself.

It wasn't that the other Mobians in the room disliked him, per se. They were friendly enough when they talked to him. But they seemed to be keeping their distance. Tails sat alone, against a wall near the back, keeping to himself and wishing every second that Sonic was there with him. He knew Sonic _would _come – Sonic _never _let him down, not _once _– but it was all a matter of when. Whenever it was, it would be the soonest possible, but it didn't feel like it was soon enough. He just wanted to be free again, out in the open where there was a less of a _me _and _them _feeling clogging the air.

The door opened again, and immediately, everyone looked to Katella as she sauntered toward them, her eyes moving over each and every one of them. By this point, they knew why they were there. She'd told them as much the last time she'd come through, interrogating each of them for information about themselves. She wanted to sell them to zoos on other planets, and so she needed to make sure she had the rarest of the bunch. Last time, that led to everyone else talking about how they had big families, about how they weren't really that rare, and she should just let them go. Tails hadn't known what to say. He had a family, sure, but it wasn't as if Sonic was a fox like he was. What if she went after Sonic, too?

"Have you decided to let us go?" someone asked hopefully, half-standing. Katella rolled her eyes.

"Please. Why would I want to do that?"

"Because—Because we're really not that special?" Now the person just sounded desperate, especially as Katella gave him a disdainful look. "Please, I'm really not that special! At least not as special as _him_!" He pointed to Tails, whose eyes widened. "I didn't even know two-tailed freaks like him _existed _until I was put into the same room with him! Please, keep him – the rest of us are just normal Mobians!"

"H–Hey!" Tails was unable to keep the hurt from his voice, though he decided against standing up and showcasing his twin tails even further. It wasn't that he was ashamed of them, or anything – they were a part of who he was – but . . . "I'm—I'm not a freak!"

"Oh, no, you're definitely a freak." Katella walked over to him, and Tails shrank back against the wall. "A little mutant, but that's perfect. I'm sure you'll fetch a nice price for such a deformity."

"It's—It's not a deformity," Tails muttered defensively. "It's just . . . I'm just . . ."

"Now, see here!" The mayor Katella had captured puffed up his chest, and Katella turned to look at him coolly. "You leave that young man alone! He happens to be the best friend of our hero, and is only a child to boot!"

"Yeah!" another girl spoke up, and Tails felt his heart left. "You leave Tails alone! He's a sweetie!"

"Hmph. What do I care? Once I sell him off, he'll be the least of my concerns." Katella patted his head and Tails jerked away, not wanting anyone to muss the fur between his ears save Sonic. She smirked. "I just came in to make sure you all were behaving yourselves. I'm having a special guest over tonight, so it'd be nice if you all kept your traps shut." With that, Katella turned and sauntered out, locking the door behind her. As soon as she was gone, the room fell silent, and the brief sense of camaraderie that had been created between the mayor, the girl, and Tails fell apart. Tails wrapped his tails around himself, curling up into a little ball, and closed his eyes.

_Sonic, please get here soon_, he thought, though in a way he almost felt guilty for thinking it, because he didn't want to take the chance that Sonic would find himself trapped, too – nor did he want to depend too much on his best friend. At the same time, Sonic was the one person on Mobius who not only made him feel safe, but also made him feel normal, and he couldn't deny the fact that he was sorely missing both of those feelings right then.


	41. Attack on Pinball Fortress

**Tag 41 - Attack on Pinball Fortress****  
Title: What Might Have Been**

Between Wes Weasley's fast speech and Sergeant Doberman's booming voice, it was hard to hear anyone else that was in the nearby vicinity. Tails ducked as another one of Weasley's inventions sailed over his head, and covered his ears as Sergeant Doberman exploded with rage, shouting orders that Weasley was no doubt going to ignore.

"Hey, Sonic?" Tails asked, taking the opportunity that a brief pause in Doberman's speech allowed him. "Do you remember when you wanted me to live with Sergeant Doberman?"

"Yeah, little bud, I remember." Sonic was eying both Weasley and Doberman with distaste, tapping his foot in a sure sign of impatience. "I stand by the decision I made then. Living with him wouldn't have been safe at all. Who knows what might've happened to you if you'd stayed with that freak."

"Yeah, no kiddin—whoa!" Sonic yanked Tails out of the way of a flying frying pan, now full-on glaring in the direction of Weasley and Doberman. "Do you really think we should take them with us, Sonic?"

"Probably not. But with any luck, they might fall into a pit of lava." Sonic shook his head, releasing his hold on Tails' arm to make his way over to the arguing duo. "Wait here, little bud. I'm gonna go see if I can straighten them out."


	42. Mass Transit Trouble

**Tag 42 - Mass Transit Trouble****  
Title: Protective**

Tails didn't lose his temper very often, but to tell the truth, he was getting pretty close to doing just that.

"Don't you get that he's really beat? He was just almost in three places at once! Give him a rest!"

"But it's an emergency!" The voice through the radio did sound panicked, but Tails doubted that anything was more urgent than the three simultaneous explosions that almost just took place. "The birthday party starts in an hour, and if I don't manage to make it—"

"Big deal! You're just going to have to deal with it! Sonic just stopped the airport, the train station, and the lighthouse from blowing up, and they're all at opposite ends of Mobius! He needs a rest right now, and he can't get that rest if he's taking you to some stupid party! Goodbye!" Tails cut communication with the radio, glaring at it for a few moments before he turned to find a few sailors watching him. "What?"

"Nothin', Tails my boy – nothing at all!" The captain's lips twitched, and Tails crossed his arms, somehow feeling even more annoyed than he had before.

"_What_?"

"Nothin'! It's just—well, you were getting a mite anxious with them, weren't you? Feelin' protective of Sonic, are you?"

"Well—Well, yeah, I guess. But look at him!" Tails gestured over to Sonic, who was sleeping so deeply that he couldn't hear them no matter how loudly they spoke. "He's completely beat! He always runs himself ragged for the people of Mobius, and sometimes it seems like everyone just expects him to. He doesn't _have _to, he just does it 'cause he's a hero, but that doesn't mean that he's obligated to help everyone out with every little problem! Sometimes I think that people forget that he's a person, too. He may be a hero, but he's still a person . . ." The radio began buzzing again, and Tails – fairly close to knocking it off the control panel – turned and hit the button with a little more force than necessary. "What is it?"

"Is Sonic there?" It was the girl from the airport, and Tails clenched his jaw. "I gave him my number, but I'm not sure if he really got it, he was so busy . . . I heard that he was going to the train station too, so I can always try there—"

"No, Sonic's not there," Tails snapped, and before she could continue, said, "And as far as you're concerned, he's not here, either. He just saved Mobius—again!"

"I know!" the girl gushed. "He's so brave, and—"

"And really wiped out! If you really cared about him, you'd want him to get some rest now instead of trying to pressure him to do even more! Just leave him alone!" Once again, Tails cut communications. He felt a little bad for yelling – he knew the girl didn't really mean Sonic any harm – but sometimes . . .

To his surprise, the captain was laughing again.

"What's so funny?" Tails asked, though he felt more exasperated by the laughter than really angry. The captain shook his head.

"It's nothin', really. Just that I always imagined Sonic would be protective of you, little guy – not the other way 'round."

"Sonic _is _protective of me, so of course I'll return the favor," Tails said, though his tone was more surprised than anything. _Was _he being protective? Sonic always watched out for him, and it was hard to think that he was doing anything of the sort in return, but . . .

The radio started buzzing again with another call coming through. Tails turned and glared at it, and – after only a brief moment of thought – hit the ignore button.

Yeah, maybe he was being a little protective. But someone had to protect the heroes, and if anyone was going to be watching Sonic's back, then it was definitely going to be Tails.


	43. Coachnik

**Tag 43 - Coachnik****  
Title: Beloved Coach**

There was a reason Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts just watched as Coachnik's foot chased Dr. Robotnik far away from them.

The truth was, they preferred him over Dr. Robotnik.

True, his training methods were extreme. Yes, it was a lot of work. But although he pushed them to be their best, that was just it – he pushed them to be their _best. _He _believed _in them. When they messed up, he told them that they would just need to try again. He didn't spend time verbally abusing them, telling them how worthless they were, making them go for each other's throats. On the contrary, he made them _want _to work together. For once, Scratch didn't feel the need to constantly put Grounder and Coconuts down. For once, Grounder wasn't waiting for a rare opportunity to show Scratch up. For once, Coconuts didn't hate Scratch or Grounder.

For once, the three of them almost felt like brothers.

"Maybe we should help," Grounder said, as Dr. Robotnik's voice grew fainter and fainter. Scratch scoffed.

"He put a _time bomb _in your _head. _Let 'im get kicked awhile. It was his idea to build Coachnik, anyway."

"One of the best ideas he's had in a long time," Coconuts agreed, massaging his tail where it had been tied around the football-shaped bomb. "Do you think Dr. Robotnik will fix Coachnik?"

"Get real. Our days of having a coach are over." Scratch spoke the words with some degree of bitterness. His tone added the "unfortunately" that he didn't want to voice. "Come on. We should go see what's left of the fortress."

The three robots stood up, yet instead of heading immediately back, their eyes fell on the pieces of scrap metal scattered around the stadium – the remnants of the only one who'd ever supported them. After exchanging one glance, they went around, picking up the pieces of their disembodied coach. Dr. Robotnik would no doubt want to throw every single piece into the scrap heap, but for now, they could save their coach as best they could, as thanks for the support he'd given them over the past few days.

As thanks for making them feel like they were worth something, at least for a little while.


	44. Untouchable Sonic

**Tag 44 - Untouchable Sonic****  
Title: You'll Understand When You're Older**

"But did you _have _to _kiss _her? That's so gross!"

"You're just showing your age by saying that, keed."

"I'm being serious!" Tails made a face, sticking his tongue out and crossing his eyes. "Roxy was cool and all, but kissing is _blegh_."

"So you liked Roxy?" Sonic grinned. They were already on the road again, and it was likely they wouldn't see Roxy again for a long time (if ever), but he couldn't help but tease Tails, at least a little. "So you wouldn't mind if she stuck around a bit? Maybe we could go back and bring her with us?"

"What? No!" Tails shook his head vigorously. "We don't need to bring her along! If we do, you two will just be all lovey-dovey all the time!"

"I don't think Roxy's that kind of girl."

"Soooooniiiiiiic . . ."

"Relax, li'l bro. Roxy has her own life. She doesn't need to come along and freedom fight with us." Sonic reached out and patted Tails on the top of his head. "But you know, someday you might change your mind about all this."

"What, about Roxy?"

"Nah, about girls and stuff."

"Blegh, no way." Once again, Tails made a face. "Girls are fine as friends, but kissing and stuff is gross."

"Like I said, you'll understand when you're older. For right now, just leave the babes to me." Sonic winked. "I'll take care of 'em."

"Ew! Sonic, that's gross!" Sonic took off at his usual Sonic speed, and Tails groaned, spinning his tails even faster in an effort to catch up. "And wait for me!"


	45. Super Robotnik

**Tag 45 - Super Robotnik  
Title: Super Sonic**

The truth was, Tails _did _mean it.

Unless it was a special circumstance, Sonic didn't really like the mushy stuff. Truth was, neither did Tails. But he'd said that Sonic would always be his hero forever, and although it didn't _seem _like Sonic was going to tease him for it, he'd backpedaled anyway just so that the mood wouldn't get _too _mushy. But that didn't change the fact that he did mean what he said. Sonic _would _always be Super Sonic to him. Nothing could change that. After all, not only was Sonic the fastest thing alive, but he saved Mobians on a daily basis, and . . .

"Here you go, keed!" Sonic dropped down by Tails on the bench, handing over a chili dog with a grin. "One chili dog, just for you!"

"Thanks, Sonic! Hey, it has extra cheese on it!" Tails felt a grin split his lips, and Sonic's grin widened in kind.

"Yep. Just the way you like it, right?"

"Right! Sonic, you're the best!" Sonic laughed off Tails' words and began chowing down himself, but nonetheless, it was true.

Sonic would always be Tails' hero not just because of what he did for Mobius, but because of what he did for _Tails_. No matter what was going on, Sonic always remembered the little details. And that alone was enough to make him a hero in Tails' eyes.


	46. Robolympics

**Notes: **So, it has been . . . what, three years? Regardless, I decided to go ahead and finish this up. Last time I was posting these in batches of five, which is why 46, 47, and 48 weren't published when they were written back in 2011. But I've touched them up, and I've almost completed the rest of the series, which I'll go ahead and update now. I'm sorry it has taken me so long.

On that note, **thank you **to everyone who left a review. I read each of the reviews, and I honestly, truly appreciate them, especially since this little collection of mine got so little attention. I wrote it mostly for indulgence-mostly to give a more genuine, serious look at a show that didn't take itself seriously _at all _but had characters I really enjoyed-but to know that others enjoyed it too made the whole thing feel a bit more worthwhile, even if I didn't get a chance to say so back then.

So really - The Silent Insomniac, Andromeda0909, Falconess, Sonicfan2000, and Teto Kasane: thank you.

And for now, well . . . here are the rest of them. I hope they're worth at least a tiny bit of the wait.

* * *

**Tag 46 - Robolympics  
****Title: Predictable**

It was all beginning to feel a bit tried and true.

Robotnik would challenge Sonic. Robotnik would cheat to try and beat Sonic. Robotnik would lose to Sonic. Sonic would go to dinner.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

There was a part of Sonic that almost felt bored with the whole thing. His personal vendetta against Robotnik aside, there was only so much that one hedgehog could take, and he was the type that needed excitement in his life. True, the antics still were exciting, but there was a limit to how exciting they could be when he already knew the end result. And in this case, he _did _always know the end result. Robotnik would cheat, but would still end up losing. The story wasn't going to get a fresh ending any time soon.

And yet . . .

That aside, he went back anyway. Robotnik did need to be stopped, after all, and it still held _some _fun. All things considered, the best part of this past competition was when he was almost crushed, only to be saved by Tails throwing in the javelin.

Hmm. Maybe next time, he'd have to let Tails compete.


	47. Magnificent Sonic

**Tag 47 – Magnificent Sonic****  
****Title: Not Quite a Crack Shot**

"Sonic, I think I know what your problem is."

Sonic shot a sidelong glance at Tails over his guitar, finding the statement to be somewhat out of the blue. "Oh yeah?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's my problem, li'l bro?"

"You pull the trigger before you aim." Tails hopped up onto the desk, and Sonic's mouth formed a small 'o' of surprise before he set the guitar to the side. "I've been thinking about it all afternoon, and I think that you weren't really aiming before pulling the trigger."

"Sure I was. I was pointing the gun in the general direction of the target."

"But that's not how you shoot. You have to make sure you're aiming directly at it first."

"I don't have the patience for that, Tails! I can't be stuck waiting on my_self_when I already have to wait for all the rest of the slow-mos around me."

"But you won't hit anything like that!"

"So?" Sonic grinned. "I already told you. You don't have to be a crack shot when you're the fastest one around."

Tails still looked dubious, but he nonetheless sighed and reached for his sketchbook. "If you say so, but learning how to aim might help someday."

"Well, I'll just leave that to you, Deputy Tails." Sonic reached for the guitar again, shifting a bit in his chair to get more comfortable. "For now, this sheriff's just gonna make some music."


	48. Blackbot the Pirate

**Tag 48 – Black Bot the Pirate****  
****Title: On Purpose**

Sometimes . . . Scratch and Grounder hurt Dr Robotnik on purpose.

They would never tell _him _that—they weren't _that _stupid—but sometimes . . . Scratch knew that Sonic had moved. Sonic _was _the fastest thing alive, after all, and Scratch knew full well that Sonic moved away from Robotnik before Scratch lit the fuse on the cannon. Hell, Robotnik told him not to fire before he lit the fuse. But, instead of doing as he was told and not lighting the fuse, Scratch pretended that he didn't know and didn't hear, and lit the fuse anyway.

A couple hours later, when Robotnik was using him to patch up the hole in the ship, he could tell himself with absolute certainty that he didn't regret his choice.

Scratch would never betray Dr Robotnik for real. Neither would Grounder. But sometimes, little acts of mutiny helped to let off steam. Dr Robotnik didn't treat them well. There was no getting around that, and there was no getting away from it, either. The one upside was that they weren't treated as badly as Coconuts, but that really wasn't saying much at the end of the day. But while they couldn't get away from the abuse, while they would never be able to do anything about it, they _could _pretend to be _extra _stupid sometimes, just to get tiny little acts of revenge.

It wasn't much, but it was something. And sometimes, that was enough.


	49. Hedgehog of the Hound Table

**Tag 49 – Hedgehog of the Hound Table****  
****Title: Chosen One?**

As fun as jousting had been, and as nice as King Arfur and Princess Gwendolyn were, Sonic was itching to return back to his own time period—to grab Tails and juice it out of the middle ages and back to modern civilization. But both Arfur and Gwendolyn insisted on throwing a feast in his honor, an expression of gratitude to celebrate the fact that Sonic was able to defeat Robotnik and defend the kingdom, and who was he to say no to a free meal?

So that was how they ended up seated at the high table, Tails stuffing his face with as much food as he could fit in his mouth at once, and Sonic doing the same . . . to an extent. He couldn't help but glance over at his little bro, now appropriately _little _again, and remember how Tails' fur had gleamed when he'd held the Chaos Emerald, how the jewel seemed to _shine _in his grasp …

"Hey, Merlynx," Sonic asked, and the scatterbrained wizard looked up from his own plate, blinking owlishly at Sonic. "You said the Chaos Emerald could only be used by the King of the Hound table, right?"

"Yes, that is correct," Merlynx said, and he offered Sonic a wary smile. "Something the matter?"

"Yeah." Sonic glanced over at Tails again, only to find that he had engaged Gwendolyn in animated conversation. "When we were fighting Robotnik, Tails got the Chaos Emerald, and he used it."

"Th-That's not possible!" Merlynx sputtered, and his fork dropped to his plate with a clang. Arfur, Gwendolyn, and Tails all looked over, and Sonic scowled at him. "Only the rightful king may use the Chaos Emerald! Eh, except . . ."

"Except what?" Sonic asked, and when Merlynx gnawed on his lower lip instead of answering, added, "I'm waaaaiiitiiiing . . ."

"W-Well, there are … stories," he said, and he dropped his voice so that only Sonic could hear. Gwendolyn and Arfur shrugged and went back to their conversation, but out of the corner of his eye Sonic saw Tails give him a doubtful look before he looked back at his own plate. "There are tales of a Chosen One who will deliver Mobius from evil."

"Chosen One?" Sonic frowned, and Merlynx nodded.

"Yes. There is a legend—or a prophecy, to be more precise—that speaks of a Chosen One from whom darkness flees, whom evil cannot touch. The Chosen One will be marked from birth, separated from his peers, and will possess the wisdom of the ages, embody the courage of heroes past, and be blessed with the power of Chaos. With it, the Chosen One shall defeat the Great Evil, and restore Mobius to its rightful state of harmony." Merlynx paused and considered Sonic for a moment before he forced a laugh. "Of course, that is just a story—just a legend, really, a tale—there is no reason to set so much store by it."

"Y-Yeah," Sonic said, and he glanced over at Tails, who had once again struck up conversation with Gwendolyn. "There's no reason to pay much attention to it . . ."

. . . Was there? Tails was just a kid—just an . . . well, Sonic couldn't say _ordinary_, not with his two tails, not with the way he was a _fox _who could _fly_. And Sonic didn't know about "the wisdom of the ages," but at four and a half Tails could already tinker with some of Robotnik's creations, and had even managed to make him a flying bike of his very own. The kid was brave, sure, and he had managed to use the Chaos Emerald . . .

As Sonic watched, Tails tried to balance his spoon on his nose, handle-down, and when he managed to get it Gwendolyn clapped for him—until the spoon flopped over and landed on his face. Tails winced for only a second before he laughed along with Gwendolyn and Arfur, and Sonic smiled a bit wryly.

"Chosen One, huh?" he said under his breath. He didn't know about the darkness fleeing or the evil being unable to touch given how many times Robotnik and his goon squad had managed to get their hands on Tails, but he did know one thing: if Tails really was the Chosen One, and if he was destined to fulfill some great prophecy, well, Sonic wasn't going to let him do it alone.

* * *

**Note: **While I am touching on the "Chosen One" storyline, it really **doesn't **have anything to do with Archie's comics. This is still AoStH with game influence thrown in. It was just too good of an idea considering the odd circumstances surrounding Tails, is all. But yes, despite prophecies and mentions of harmony, I promise, this has nothing to do with the Archie comics.


	50. Robotnik's Pyramid Scheme

**Tag 50 – Robotnik's Pyramid Scheme****  
****Title: Anomaly**

"Hey, Professor, there's something I wanted to ask you about."

"What is it?" Professor Canineinstein peered at Sonic over the top of his glasses, and Sonic tapped his foot to channel the unease he felt into the floor.

"When we were in the past, I, uh—I erased myself from existence." Professor Canineinestein raised his eyebrows, and Sonic continued quickly. "But it's no sweat, it worked out; Tails fixed it."

Professor Canineinstein smiled. "That's good. He's a reliable lad."

"Yeah, he is, but that's the thing." Sonic frowned, and tapped his foot a bit faster. "_How _did he fix it? I mean, I know how he did it when he was there—he found my ancestor, hooked him up with the chick who'd become my _other _ancestor—but shouldn't he have not been there?"

"Come again?"

"Tails was only there because I brought him there," Sonic said. "But if I never existed I couldn't have brought him there. His whole future should have been changed!" Sonic looked across the beach to where Tails was building a sand castle, using his tails to keep him aloft as he built a spire far higher than it needed to be. "Who knows where the kid would be if I hadn't agreed to take him along, but he shouldn't have been in the past. That's a paradox, isn't it?"

"Hmm . . ." Sonic looked over to see that Professor Canineinstein had pulled out a small rectangular device, which he stared at with a partly troubled, partly curious expression. After a moment his eyebrows shot up, and he exclaimed:

"Yes! I knew it!"

"Knew what?" Sonic asked, and as it had when he'd listened to Merlynx's story at the high table, he felt a thread of unease spike through him. "I'm wai—"

"Look at this," Professor Canineinstein interrupted, and Sonic didn't know whether he was glad that someone was finally operating on at least half his speed or if he was annoyed at being interrupted. He peered over at the device regardless. "When you were in the past stopping Robotnik, I noticed a strange read-out on my personal computer—very peculiar, indeed. Reviewing the data now, I see that it must have happened at around the time you inadvertently caused your lack of existence!"

"Yeah, and what's the point of that?" Sonic asked, and he crossed his arms. "What's that got to do with—"

"Look here. See?" Professor Canineinstein jabbed a finger at the computer screen. To Sonic, the coding and strange lines looked like a mess of gibberish. "This is an examination of the temporal time stream at that time. You see all of these strings? They indicate the people that were supposed to be there, the people who were born naturally in that place and at that time."

"Yeah? And?"

"Here," Professor Canineinstein said, and he pointed at a pair of blue and orange lines, "here is where you and Tails enter. You can see that your strings stand out, but they still belong—they are still part of the timestream itself. But here," he jabbed his finger at a different part of the screen, where it looked like the lines had been blown apart, "this is where you caused your own non-existence. Your string disappears, see? It is severed until it reconnects," he pointed to another part of the screen, "here."

"But what's this got to do with—"

"Here," Professor Canineinstein said, and he pointed back at the place where the mini-explosion occurred, "if you'll notice, Tails' string remains in place. Moreover, it glows a little more brightly than the others. In fact . . ." Professor Canineinstein traced the string back to the beginning, and then again toward the end of that particular timestream window. "If you'll notice, it is brighter than all the others together."

"What's that mean?"

"Well, looking at how Tails' particular string causes the same result even here, in the normal timeline, I would say that Tails is an anomaly."

"An anomaly?" Sonic frowned, and was about to ask what _that _meant when Canineinstein continued.

"Yes. I'm not exactly sure how or why, but it appears that Tails is unaffected by changes to the timeline. His string," Professor Canineinstein traced along it again, "seems to exist just outside of them, or above them. He is more than the timeline, a . . . fixed point, if you will. He cannot be rendered non-existent by paradoxes, because his string here is a fact. He happened."

"But that's . . ." Sonic looked over at Tails again, in time to see Tails accidentally whack the tallest spire with his foot, which resulted in the collapse of the entire thing. "That's crazy. I can barely even wrap my head around it. How's that even possible? How does someone exist outside of time? What—"

"Oh, he's in time, but that's the thing: he is _in _time. Excepting death, he cannot be simply written out of it. Paradoxes seem to not have an effect on him." Professor Canineinstein pressed a couple buttons on his device. "I will have to do more research, but at the moment he truly does appear to be an anomaly." Caninestein smiled. "You should consider yourself quite lucky, Sonic. You have a get-out-of-paradox free card on your hands."

"I'd be lucky to have him even if he _couldn't _save me from paradoxes," Sonic said, but as Tails shook sand out of his twin appendages, he frowned.

Between this and the "Chosen One" business Merlynx spoke of, just _what_ was up with his little bud?


	51. Prehistoric Sonic

**Tag 51 – Prehistoric Sonic****  
****Title: School Daze**

School was important. Not for Sonic, so much—he learned everything _he _needed out in the streets, in life as it came—but for Tails. Tails didn't agree, or at least, he didn't agree _at first_; he kicked up a fight wherein he claimed that _he _could get street smarts _too_, that he didn't _want _to be stuck in school all day, that couldn't Sonic just teach him in the same way he'd taught him how to read and write? But through all the arguing and the petulant tantrums Sonic had managed to convince him that school could be fun, too. "You'll learn all sorts of things that I can't teach you, keed," he said. "Including about all new kinds of science. You wanna work more with machines and stuff, right?"

"Well, yeah, I guess," Tails said, and he scuffed his foot along the ground. "But won't you be bored without me?"

"Probably, but I'll find something to do until it's time to pick you up," Sonic said, and he patted Tails on the head. Tails gave a half-smile that almost could have been a frown. "Don't worry about me. You just focus on your studies."

That, as it turned out, was the hard part. There were plenty of kindergartens around Mobius-plenty of schools that, at first, were delighted to take Tails on as a student. But finding one that Tails could _stick with_, well . . . _that _was the hard part.

—

The first school didn't work out because of attendance problems. It was Sonic's fault, he knew. Tails was late one day because Sonic wanted to make sure he ate a good breakfast, he missed another day altogether because they had to stop one of Robotnik's schemes . . . but by the third week Tails' teacher pulled them both to the side when they arrived (late) to class, a stern look on her face.

"Sonic, Tails has only been present for four full days out of the past three weeks," she said, and frowned as Tails yawned. "And he doesn't participate very much when he _is _here."

"Well, we can work on that, can't we, bro?" Sonic asked. He nudged Tails when Tails stared into space instead of responding, and Tails' ears flicked up as he pulled himself back into the conversation.

"What? Oh, uh, right."

The teacher sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "With all due respect, I think that school might not be in Tails' best interests just now. You seem to have a lot going on in your lives, and it is affecting his studies. Perhaps he should take some time off until your lives are a bit more stable, hm?"

"So, what, you want him to drop out?" Sonic asked, and he couldn't help that he sounded a bit indignant. The teacher gave him a pitying look.

"I'm only saying that Tails' participation at this school doesn't look as though it will improve any time soon."

"So you're kicking him out." This time it wasn't a question, and Sonic took Tails' wrist. "Fine, have it your way. We'll find _another _school—a _better _school." The teacher opened her mouth, perhaps to argue that there _were _no better schools, but her words were lost to the wind as Sonic took off, pulling Tails along with him.

—

Unfortunately, the second school didn't work out much better than the first. Sonic made sure the attendance issues were remedied; no matter how much Tails protested and _insisted _that he should spend his days freedom fighting instead, Sonic made sure he was in class by the time the first bell rang. All the same, Tails lasted a solid five days before his new teacher asked Sonic to stay for a conference after school.

"What's up, teach?" Sonic asked as he entered the teacher's office. Tails was already there, slumped down in a chair in front of the desk, his ears pressed back against his head. Sonic patted him on the shoulder in a comforting gesture before he took a seat himself, and ignored the teacher's frown at Sonic's use of slang.

"I need to speak with you about Tails' behavior," the teacher said, and he took a moment to wipe the lenses of his glasses instead of looking at either Sonic or Tails. "I was going to chalk it up to him having trouble adjusting to life in the classroom, but—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up a minute." Sonic frowned. "Tails' behavior? What, are you saying he's been misbehaving?" Sonic glanced over at Tails. "You haven't said anything to me about that."

"Well, children often don't want to tell their parents or legal guardians when they're misbehaving," the teacher said, and Sonic refrained from commenting on the fact that, technically, he was neither of those things to Tails. "But—"

"I haven't been misbehaving!" Tails interrupted, and he sat up a bit straighter in the chair. "I just—"

"Hang on a second, little bud," Sonic said, and Tails scowled mulishly as he sat back in his chair. Sonic looked back at his teacher. "You were saying?"

"Tails is disruptive," the teacher said. "He doesn't pay attention in class, he is constantly arguing with me, he tells tall tales to the other students—"

"The other students are the ones who should be punished," Tails muttered. "They're bullies and jerks." His teacher gave him a stern look.

"Your classmates only don't take kindly to fibs, young man—"

"I'm not fibbing!"

"Okay, okay, time out!" Sonic said, and he raised his hands in a T as the teacher opened his mouth again. "Jeez, you know I've got a thirst for speed, but even I'm having a hard time keeping all this straight. Let's take it one step at a time, okay?" When it seemed as though neither the teacher nor Tails would argue, Sonic sighed. "Okay. First off, Tails, why aren't you paying attention in class?" It was a problem Tails had had at his first school, too, if Sonic remembered rightly, but seeing as how it was brought up right before Tails had been forced to drop it, Sonic hadn't pressed the issue. Tails heaved a sigh.

"Because it's _boring_," he said. "I already know all of this stuff. I don't need to listen to it. And when I do listen, some of it isn't true anyway."

"That fits in line with some of the other tall tales he has told," the teacher sniffed, and Tails glared at him.

"I haven't—"

"What lies are you talking about?" Sonic asked, and Tails gave him an appalled look. Sonic raised one hand in a _'calm down' _gesture to him before he looked back at the teacher. The teacher grabbed a piece of paper and pulled it over to him.

"On top of claiming to already know basic arithmetic, literacy, and other skills, Tails routinely riles the other students by telling stories of how he fights Dr Robotnik and his badniks." Sonic glanced sidelong at Tails, who gave him a _'you see? I haven't done anything wrong' _look. "He claims that he has created a bicycle capable of flight, that he knows basic computer programming, and even that he has traveled through time—"

"Yeah, that's right," Sonic said, and Tails grinned. The teacher looked up, flabbergasted.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Tails _has _done all that stuff," Sonic said, and as much pride as he felt for his little brother upon thinking about all that Tails had accomplished, he couldn't help but feel a little impatient that the teacher was having a hard time grasping it. "He's a freedom fighter, just like me. We take out Robotnik and his goon squad on a regular basis."

"Always just in time for a chili dog dinner," Tails chimed in, and Sonic grinned. The teacher shook his head.

"Mr Hedgehog, while I appreciate you fostering Tails' imagination, these stories have created numerous disruptions in the classroom—"

"His imagination's got nothin' to do with it," Sonic said, and this time he let his impatience show in his voice. "Tails _has _done those things. He's done those things since his voice was high and squeaky." Sonic paused, then qualified, "Well, squeak_ier_."

Tails frowned. "Hey, Sonic!"

"Callin' it like I hear it, kid," Sonic said, and Tails' frown grew a bit more petulant as he crossed his arms. "Point is, teach, Tails isn't lying. He hasn't lied about anything. And I can tell you right now that he's had reading, writing, and basic math down for a long while now. I taught him myself."

The teacher stared at him for a moment before he sniffed again and started sorting his papers. "Perhaps, then, it would be better if you found Tails a different school," he said. "One where he will be more . . . _challenged._"

"Yeah, I figured as much," Sonic said, and he stood up from the chair with enough force to send it skittering back a bit. "C'mon, bro—let's go."

Tails was out of his chair and the room almost as fast as Sonic-almost, because as soon as they cleared the threshold of the office Sonic took his wrist and booked it, taking them far away from the school. It wasn't until they were out of eyesight that they stopped, and when the did, it was so Sonic could frown at Tails.

"Well, that one was a bust, too."

"Yeah," Tails said, and he put his ears back again, this time looking a bit ashamed. "Sorry, Sonic."

"Hey, it's not your fault," Sonic said, and he lightly bumped Tails' snout with his knuckles, a comforting tap that made Tails grin. "But next time some kids decide to pick on you, you tell me, okay? I'll make sure they don't get away with it again." Tails grinned.

"Roger that."

—

So kindergarten seemed to be a bad idea altogether. After two unsuccessful attempts at getting Tails a good education, Sonic decided he needed to step it up. The problem, of course, was that most secondary schools refused to acknowledge Tails' intelligence, and a few of them even expressed concerns that Robotnik might target the school if he knew Tails was there. Finally, however, Sonic managed to find one that not only had no problems with spotty attendance, but seemed more than ready to admit Tails into the class.

"_High school_?" Tails said, aghast, as Sonic showed him to the classroom. Sonic grinned.

"You got it, squirt. You're not officially a student here—you're auditing." Tails gave him a questioning look, so Sonic explained, "That means that you can sit in on some classes, learn some things, but you won't be eligible for a diploma or anything like that. They figured they'd save that for when you're older, if you're interested in going to school full time."

"Pass. Part time's good enough for me," Tails said, but it was at that point that a few of the older students caught sight of him, and one snorted a laugh.

"Wait, _this _pipsqueak's the new transfer student? Didn't know we'd be on babysitting duty."

Sonic scowled at him, but while Tails frowned, he used his tails to fly over and look at the student's paper instead of answering directly. "I don't need a babysitter, but I think you need a math tutor," he said, and he pointed to the paper. "That's wrong."

"What?" The student looked down at his paper indignantly, and Tails reached for a pencil.

"That's wrong. You were writing out pi, right? Well, the first thirteen digits of pi are 3.141592653589, not 3.141592654691." Tails set to work on correcting the number while the older student looked over at Sonic with a bewildered expression. Sonic just grinned.

"Yeah, he'll fit right in," he said, and then added with a bit more firmness in his voice, "And if you mess with him, I'll mess with you." The older student gulped, and Sonic's grin grew.

Yeah, this school would work out just fine.

* * *

**Notes: **There were plenty of ways I could have tagged this episode, but Tails mentioning that he studied the Big Bang in school-when, at barely five years old, he should have been in _kindergarten_-was too good to pass up.


	52. Baby-Sitter Jitters

**Tag 52 – Baby-Sitter Jitters****  
****Title: What There is to Know**

Two hours later, Sonic wasn't laughing anymore.

"I can't believe we got roped into this for an entire weekend," he groused, watching as Tails tried to wrangle the last baby back into her crib. Tails managed, but only barely, though fortunately the baby gave up a couple seconds later and settled down to sleep like her brothers. "A whole weekend of _babysitting. _Is there anything worse?"

"Yes," Tails said, in the same cross tone he'd used earlier in the day when he had demanded _"what's there to know?!" _in response to Sonic saying he knew nothing about babysitting. Sonic frowned. "We could be locked in Robotnik's dungeon, or forced to walk slowly everywhere forever, or thrown in a volcano—"

"Well, yeah," Sonic said, and he followed Tails into the living room, where Tails flopped down on the couch. "Those would all be worse, but-what's gotten into you?"

"Nothing!" Tails said, and a few of the babies hiccuped in the other room. Tails cringed and lowered his voice. "Nothing's gotten into me. I'm just fine."

"If you were 'just fine,' you wouldn't look so ticked at me." Sonic crossed his arms, and lowered his voice an octave or two so as not to rouse the babies in the other room. "I'm waaaitiiing . . ."

The look Tails gave Sonic was nothing short of surly, but Sonic was more than capable of riding it out. After a few seconds Tails huffed an irritated sigh and tossed one hand in the air before he let it flop back on the couch cushion.

"It's just—you're acting like this is the worst thing in the world. Like you don't like babies or know how to take care of them at all."

"That's because I don't," Sonic said bluntly. "On both counts." Tails' glare became surlier.

"But that's not true. At least, it's not true that you don't know what to do. You _do _know. You _have _to know."

"Says who?" Sonic asked. Tails sat up straighter on the couch, his tails lashing against the cushions in agitation.

"Says me!" Once again the sound of baby gurgles came from the other room, and Tails lowered his voice again. "And you should say so, too, because you _do _know."

"Tails, I'm pretty sure I would know if I knew how to take care of a baby," Sonic said. Tails pressed his ears against his head before he flopped back against the couch, his mouth set in a petulant pout.

"Oh yeah? Then what do you call me, then?" Sonic opened his mouth to say _'not a baby' _when Tails continued. "I was a baby once. I was a baby when you met me, and you took care of _me_." Comprehension dawned on Sonic then, the reason for Tails' apparent offense becoming clear, but before he could say anything Tails continued in a hurt, albeit still angry, tone. "Did you hate me when we first met, too?"

"No, of course not!" Sonic darted over to jump on the couch beside Tails, but Tails' countenance didn't brighten. "Tails, you weren't—you weren't a baby when we met. At least, you weren't _that much _of a baby. You definitely weren't _that level _of baby." Sonic jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the babies' room. "You could keep up with me when we met, you remember that? Yeah, you were a bit slower—you'll always be a bit slower-but you still did a pretty good job keeping up, just like you do now. You didn't stick random things in your mouth, you could eat normal food, and though you were wearing a diaper we both quickly discovered you didn't need it—"

"So?" Tails challenged, though he was already sounding a bit mollified. "I was still a baby. You still had to take care of me." Tails looked down, and though his ears were still pressed flat against his head, he now looked resigned instead of angry. "You still do, a lot of the time."

"But it's _different_," Sonic stressed. "You're a _kid_, not a _baby_. You're a heck of a lot easier to take care of than those in three in there. Always have been." Sonic scratched the back of his neck and sighed. "I'll admit, at first I was a bit reluctant to bring you along. But you know that. I said no the first time, remember?" Tails nodded. "But I changed my mind, and you know what? I haven't regretted it since. Not for one second." Tails looked up, his expression dubious.

"Really?"

"Really." Sonic smiled, and lightly nudged Tails' shoulder. "Tails, you're my best friend. Have been since the day we met, practically. I wouldn't change that for anything."

Tails considered him for a second before he finally smiled. "Thanks, Sonic. I-I wouldn't change it either, you know. You might not think you know anything about taking care of babies, but you did a good job with me."

"I _don't _know anything about taking care of babies," Sonic said, and as Tails gave him a _look_, he added, "But I _do _know how to take care of _you_, and I think that's all either one of us needs, right?"

Tails laughed as Sonic ruffled the fur on top of his head. "Yep!"


	53. Honey, I Shrunk the Hedgehog

**Tag 53 – Honey, I Shrunk the Hedgehog****  
****Title: Late Night Joyride**

Their motivations were innocent enough. They just wanted to fly it at least once.

Or at least, _Scratch _wanted to fly it at least once. Grounder wasn't allowed, or so Scratch said, as he clambered behind the control yoke. Grounder climbed in behind him, jealous that he wasn't going to get to fly it himself, but thrilled enough at the idea of taking Dr Robotnik's Egg-O-Matic hovercraft out for a midnight expedition. They weren't supposed to, they both knew, though technically they'd never been explicitly told not to. It was an unwritten, unsaid rule, and if it wasn't important enough to be said or written down, then it couldn't have been important enough to follow, right? Right.

So their motivations were innocent enough. Unfortunately, innocent motivations didn't make for controlled flight.

"Slow down, Scratch!" Grounder said, and he pressed his arm-drills into the side of the small aircraft, as though that could suffice as a brake. "You're going to crash!"

"Shut up, Grounder, I am not!" Scratch retorted, even as Dr Robotnik's fortress came into view much faster than either one of them could anticipate. The golden statue loomed dangerously large, and as the seconds ticked by they neared the garage door just enough so that Grounder could make out the individual details on its surface.

"Scratch, you need to use the brake!" Grounder said, and as the Egg-O-Matic hovercraft didn't slow at all, Grounder covered his eyes with his arm-drills. "_Scratch_!"

"I am, I'm trying, I'm—_no_!"

The aircraft jolted forward with a burst of speed to accentuate Scratch's howl of despair. Having evidently hit the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal in his panic, the Egg-O-Matic crashed through the garage door and slammed into the floor of the garage, ejecting both of them out and into the wall. The sound was deafening; for a few moments Scratch and Grounder laid there, immobile, wondering if all their pieces were still in tact, or how long it would take Dr Robotnik to wake and come investigate the source of the cacophony.

He didn't. After seven solid minutes of waiting Scratch and Grounder slowly picked themselves up off the floor, looking cautiously toward the door that led into the fortress, and then at the wreck of Dr Robotnik's Egg-O-Matic, and the giant hole in the garage door.

"Good news is, we're still alive," Grounder said after a moment. Scratch grimaced as he stood up.

"Yeah, but not for long if Dr Robotnik finds out about this," he said. He considered the wreckage for a minute before he scowled. "Let's not tell him."

"But won't he find out anyway?" Grounder asked. Scratch scoffed.

"He's gonna find out that this happened, but he doesn't have to know that _we _did it. Let's blame it on Coconuts." Grounder brightened.

"Oh yeah, good idea! He'll believe Coconuts did it for sure. And it's not like he could get in even more trouble than he's already in, right?"

"Yeah! What's he gonna do, get put on double sewer duty? Ha-HA-haHA!" Scratch started toward the door that led into the fortress, and Grounder rolled after him, guffawing a little himself.


	54. Robotnikland

**Tag 54 – Robotnikland****  
****Title: They Grow Up So Fast**

When Sonic had his birthday, there was a party to celebrate, and Tails built him a flying bike out of parts found in the city dump.

When Tails had his birthday, he didn't even know it until Sonic shook him awake and said, _"Tails, Tails—wake up! Wake up, Tails! It's your birthday!"_

"H-Huh? What?" It took a minute for Sonic's words to register in Tails' brain. From what he could see of the sky, it was just after dawn, and Tails was just sleepy enough so that Sonic could have said _anything _and going back to sleep would have still seemed like a better idea. Still, Sonic didn't seem inclined to let him; instead, he dropped a wrapped gift on Tails' lap, and as Tails rubbed the sleep from his eyes to get a better look at it, Sonic practically vibrated with energy.

"Happy birthday, little bro!"

"Happy . . . what?" Tails sat up and stared at the gift before he looked to Sonic with a frown. "Happy birthday? But-But I don't have a birthday."

"Sure you do," Sonic said. "Everyone has a birthday, or else you wouldn't be here." Tails scratched his ear, his head tilted in confusion.

"But I've never . . . I don't remember my birthday. We always just guessed my age based on how old I was when we met, and how many years it's been since then."

"Yeah, I know. But you decided you wanted to celebrate _my _birthday this year, right? You got me a gift and everything. So I figure it's only right if I return the favor."

"But—"

"And I worked out the timing—did the math and everything. Maybe this isn't _exact_, but it's close enough for your birthday. A good enough pick of any." Sonic grinned, and threw out his hands to indicate Tails and the present sitting on his lap. "So ta-da! Congratulations, keed! You're officially five today!" Finally, as the words and situation sank on, a slow smile started to spread on Tails' face.

"Five, huh? But this is all based on a guess, right, Sonic? So really I could be any age." Sonic's grin faded a little.

"Well, yeah, that's true, but—"

"I could be six," Tails said. "Or seven. Maybe even eight." Sonic caught on, then, and though he rolled his eyes, a little smile was playing on his own lips. "Maybe I'm even nine! Or ten! Or _twelve_! Or—"

"Whoa, time out!" Sonic raised his hands in a placating gesture, and Tails closed his mouth, though he was still grinning. "I never thought I'd say this, but slow down, li'l bro. You're growing up fast enough as it is. I don't think we need to worry about you being twelve just yet. Five's enough, don'tcha think?"

"Heh, yeah. I guess." Tails placed his hands on his gift, though he didn't open it yet, and instead kept his eyes trained on Sonic. "So, what're we going to do today?"

"You just wait. I've got the whole thing planned out." Once again, Sonic was practically bouncing with excitement, and even if he wasn't excited about potential birthday shenanigans, Tails felt excited that _Sonic _was so excited. "I don't want to spoil the surprise, but believe me when I say that both skate _and _theme parks are involved, and that there will be more cake than you've ever seen in all five years of your life."

"Way cool!" Tails paused, then, and his smile became a bit more bemused. "But can we really do all that in one day?" Sonic scoffed.

"Are you kiddin' me? Have you forgotten who you're talking to? We'll have it done in _half _a day if I have anything to say about it. So go on, open your present! Once you see what it is, we can get started." Sonic winked. "And if it's any kind of motivation, I'm thinkin' _cake _for breakfast."

"Oh yeah, sign me up!" Tails said, and immediately set to shredding the wrapping paper of his gift as Sonic laughed.

* * *

**Notes: **Because we already had an episode about Sonic's birthday, and Tails deserves a birthday too.


	55. The Mobius 5000

**Tag 55 – The Mobius 5000****  
****Title: Unwelcome Gratitude**

"Thank you again, Sonic. Really, I hardly know what to say. If Robotnik had shut down the orphanage . . ."

"Don't mention it." Sonic grinned, and the orphanage matron's grateful smile grew a little. "Car or not, what's a race to me? I'd be lying if I said it was trouble. Heck, it was _fun._"

"Well, all the same, I still wish there was something I could do to repay you." The orphanage matron fell silent for a moment, and a pensive look crossed her face as she looked away. Sonic followed her gaze to see that she was watching Tails and a group of orphans around his age as they kicked a ball around. "You know, actually . . ."

"What?"

"If you wanted . . ." The orphanage matron looked back at him, and Sonic met her gaze with a raised eyebrow. "It would really be no trouble for me, really, especially seeing as how he's such a sweet boy—"

"Ma'am, you know I'm doing my best to be polite here, but I don't have all day . . ." Sonic interrupted, and tapped his foot a few times to accentuate the point. The orphanage matron laughed, though her laugh sounded a little nervous.

"Right. Of course. Well, I was only saying, I know what a busy life you lead, how hectic and often times dangerous it is, and so I was thinking—if you wanted to find Tails a safer place to stay, to grow up-we would accept him with open arms."

Sonic stopped tapping his foot. In fact, he stilled altogether, and it was if he was buried beneath the avalanche again, for how much his veins felt like ice. "What?"

"It's only that, you know, he _is _a little boy, and while you aren't a child you are only about fifteen yourself—"

"I'm sixteen," Sonic said, and the ice in his veins was starting to give way to fire, his heart pumping faster. The orphanage matron nodded fervently.

"Right, sixteen, but you are still so young, and we don't normally allow most to adopt until they're eighteen, and even then that's only in very special, select circumstances—"

"I'm going to adopt Tails when I turn eighteen," Sonic said, and he didn't want to be rough with her-didn't want to be cold, even though his temper was starting to heat up-but he couldn't help his tone. "Officially." The orphanage matron gave him an uncertain smile.

"That does sound like a plan, but in the meantime—I don't mean to be offensive, Sonic, I truly don't, but I know it can't be easy for you, taking such a young child on your journeys, and it can't be easy for Tails, either. What do you do for steady meals? Steady lodgings? What about when he falls ill? And before we spoke to you about needing the money for the orphanage, I know you were in a bar, and if I'm not mistaken from what I saw through the window it looked as though you were having him help you hustle pool—"

"So? What's wrong with a little game between bros?"

"Sonic, he's _four—_"

"Five."

"—and hustling pool is _illegal._"

"It's only illegal if you gamble for money, and we weren't. We were betting on lunch."

The orphanage matron sighed. "I know this can't be easy to hear, but it was just a suggestion, and I just thought that—if I could help—"

"You can help by ending this conversation," Sonic said, and the orphanage matron flinched. A little bit of guilt wormed its way through Sonic, but he ignored it. "Look, lady, I get that you're just trying to be nice, but I'm not gonna leave Tails at your orphanage. That's never gonna happen. What kind of brother would I be if I did that, huh?"

The orphanage matron opened her mouth to respond, yet then closed it again. After a moment she said, "Well, the offer stands if you ever want to consider it."

Sonic stared at her unhappily for a second before he turned away. "Yeah. Okay. Tails!"

Tails looked up, the ball sailing away from his kick, the other orphans rushing after it. "Yeah, Sonic?"

"We're leaving." Sonic bolted to him and grabbed his wrist, and before Tails had a chance to say goodbye to the other orphans, they were long gone.


	56. The Little Merhog

**Tag 56 – The Little Merhog****  
****Title: Chores**

"Man, I _hate _cleaning out the fridge. Why do I have to do it?"

"You have to do it because Dr Robotnik told you to do it hours ago, and you _still _haven't done it," Scratch snapped. Grounder gave him a sulky look as he wheeled toward the kitchen, Scratch at his side.

"But it's scary in there," he whined. "That lasagna's gonna eat me alive!"

"Lasagna is food. It can't eat anyone. It _gets _eaten," Scratch said, and as Grounder continued to let out a little pitiful whine, he glared. "But you _will _get eaten by Dr Robotnik himself if you don't clean the fridge out right this time!"

"But I don't _want—_"

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey! What's that I hear? You whining about cleaning out the fridge? Huh? Huh?"

"Oh, great," Scratch muttered, and he rolled his eyes as Coconuts bounded down the hallway toward them. "Just what we need, a visit from the captain of the loser patrol. Ba-HA-haHA!"

"If I'm captain of the loser patrol, then what does that make you, since you're so obviously on it?" Coconuts demanded. Scratch glared at him, but as he opened his mouth to respond Grounder cut across.

"I'm not whining! But, yeah, I have to clean out the fridge." He blinked at Coconuts, whose mouth split into a gleeful grin, the little light bulb on his head flickering. "Why do you ask?"

"I could do it," Coconuts said, and he bounced from foot to foot, rubbing his metallic hands together. "I could clean out the fridge, I could! I'd get it clean in no time!"

"Really?" Grounder asked hopefully. "You'd do that?" Coconuts nodded eagerly.

"I would, I would, I would!"

"Hold it," Scratch said, and he thumped his hand on Grounder's head. "What's the catch?" Coconuts glared briefly at Scratch before he switched his focus back to Grounder.

"A chore exchange. I clean the fridge for you, you go on sewer patrol for me for the rest of the week!"

"That's what I thought," Scratch said. "Well, unfortunately for _you_, Coconuts, we're not stupid enough to take that deal. Grounder will clean the fridge as planned, and—"

"I'll do it!" Grounder interrupted, and he held out a metal hand for Coconuts to shake. Scratch stared, dumbfounded, as Coconuts eagerly shook it. "Deal accepted!"

"Grounder, have you lost what's left of your mind?" Scratch demanded. "You're going to be mucking out those sewers for an entire week now!"

"Yeah, but on the plus side, I won't have to deal with the lasagna monster. Besides, how bad can sewers be?" Grounder asked, and as Coconuts bounded off toward the kitchen, Grounder started wheeling in the direction of the sewers. Scratch huffed an irritated sigh and slapped his hand against his forehead.

"Well," he said, "if I'm the only remaining member of the SSSSS Squad, this just means I have an even better chance of taking the credit all for myself."


	57. Road Hog

**Tag 57 – Road Hog****  
****Title: It Could Have Gone Another Way**

_"Nice try, Robotnik! But it'll take more than flower pollen to stop me!"_

_"I know. It'll take a hypnotic suggestion as well. You are no longer Sonic the Hedgehog, freedom fighter. From now on, you are Sonic the Hedgehog, first lieutenant of the Robotnik Empire, my most trusted soldier!"_

"Sonic, snap out of it!"

"Snap out of what?" Sonic smirked, and it was hard to resist a laugh as the little fox squirmed in his grasp. Still, the kid was harder to hold on to than Sonic originally anticipated, and as the two-tailed mutant twisted in such a way that almost broke Sonic's hold, Sonic tightened his grasp on the kid's arm. A little gasp of pain escaped the fox kid, but he ceased his struggling, and Sonic dragged him the rest of the way to the cell. "S'far as I can tell, I'm not in anything."

"Snap out of whatever's making you do this! This isn—whoa!" Sonic tossed the fox kid bodily into the cell, and as the kid connected with the floor, Sonic shut the barred door behind him. The lock in place, Sonic leaned against the bars, and raised an eyebrow as the kid picked himself up, massaging his arm where he'd used it to break his fall.

"'Fraid I don't know what you're talking about. Nothing's _making _me do this. Well," Sonic crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling, "guess that's not completely true. I can think of a few better ways to spend my days than chasing some runt and locking him up."

"I'm not a runt," the fox said, and Sonic snorted.

"Seriously? Have you looked at yourself?"

"I'm not that much shorter than you!"

Sonic turned fully to face him, his amused smirk replaced by a glare. "You wanna run that by me again, pal?"

An odd expression crossed the fox's face, but it was gone a moment later. Instead he frowned, and asked in a much quieter voice, "But why _are _you doing this? Why are you locking me up here? If you've got better things to do . . ."

Sonic shrugged, and returned to his relaxed position leaning against the bars. "I've got my orders."

"But since when do you take orders?!" the fox cried. "You never do! You don't take orders from _anyone_! You're _Sonic_!"

"Right," Sonic said. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, first lieutenant of the Robotnik Empire. I take orders from one person, and one person only, and that's the big man himself."

"No you aren't, and no you don't!" the fox argued, and he rushed forward to grip the bars in both hands. Sonic jumped nimbly out of the way, just in case the kid (who Sonic had the feeling was craftier than he looked) got any ideas. "You would _especially _never take orders from him! You _hate _him! You ruin his plans every day! You're a _hero_, Sonic! A freedom fighter! You save Mobius every day, and you—"

"Shut up!" Sonic snapped. There was an odd ringing in his ears—a headache. He was getting a headache, a dull throb behind his eyes. "Jeez, will you cool it for a sec? You're louder and squeakier than anyone I've ever met, and that's saying something considering the dumbbots I work with."

"—and you would never hurt me," the fox finished, his voice tiny. He'd slumped down to his knees at the base of the barred door. Sonic glowered at him for a moment before he turned away.

"Hmph. I don't even know your name." The kid gave an odd hiccuping sound, and Sonic bristled his quills, suddenly feeling antsy for reasons he couldn't explain. "But whatever. You're locked up, and that's all my orders said I had to do, so I'm done. Hope solitude suits you, 'cause I won't be back, Mack."

Thanks to his gifted speed, Sonic was at the end of the corridor in a half second, but he paused there, one foot resting on the bottom step. His hearing was sharp despite the distance, and if he wasn't mistaken . . .

Crying. That's what he heard. The little fox kid was openly crying. Sonic balled his fingers into fists and squeezed his eyes shut.

"It doesn't matter," he whispered. "It has nothing to do with me. I never even met that kid before today, and I was told to lock him up and leave him there so he can't sabotage the Empire." Those were his orders. That was his job. Protecting the Empire—_that _was his job.

. . . So then, why did it feel so wrong?

* * *

**Notes: **Because if this wasn't a slapstick show, I'm pretty positive that's the way it would have gone.

Once again, thank you to everyone who reviewed before. The final eight tags will be up in the next couple of days. If you've come back to read, thank you. If you're new, thank you as well. Really, I do appreciate it.

(And also, would anyone be interested in full length fics focusing on either "Chosen One?/Anomaly" or this one? Because I've been kicking around ideas for both, as well as one sort of based around "Unwelcome Gratitude," so if anyone is interested . . .)


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